NEW DELHI : India looked set on Thursday to get its first woman president after a vote by lawmakers, but doubts remained as to whether the 72-year-old - dogged by a slew of scandals - was fit to assume the post.

Pratibha Patil, the candidate for the ruling Congress-led coalition, was seen as a shoo-in for the ceremonial post, decided in a secret ballot by an electoral college of 4,896 state and federal lawmakers.

Analysts had said lawmakers would vote along party lines, tipping the contest in Patil's favour.

Shortly before the end of polling, which an election commission official said was marked by heavy turnout, the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party conceded defeat.

"Pratibha Patil will win... she is now the president-elect," a senior BJP leader said.

However, the official, who asked that his name not be used, said Patil had "fallen in the eyes of the Indian people," referring to the scandals that had dogged her in the run-up to the vote.

Patil has been hit by accusations that she protected her brother in a murder probe and shielded her husband in a suicide scandal, as well as allegations of involvement in a slew of financial scams.

Although Patil, who was governor of the state of Rajasthan before her candidacy was sponsored last month by India's ruling Congress-led coalition, has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

Presidential candidates and their families are traditionally expected to have an impeccable reputation.

"This sort of a dirty campaign is totally new, it has set a new low," said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan.

The Congress party and its legislative allies were also claiming victory for the Hindi-speaking Patil.

"The nation celebrates the victory of the first woman president of the country," said Saifuddin Soz of Kashmir's National Conference party, which backs Congress.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who have billed Patil's nomination as a push for gender equality, were among the first to vote at the parliament building.

Patil, plucked from relative political obscurity to be the Congress candidate, faced incumbent vice president 84-year-old Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, sponsored by the BJP.

Beyond the mudslinging, Patil was mocked when she spoke of a "divine premonition of greater responsibility."

India's leading news magazine, India Today, dubbed her the "Embarrassing Choice" on its front cover.

Various opinion polls showed most Indians favoured a second term for missile scientist Abdul Kalam, who has been called the "People's President" for his populist style. His term ends on July 24.

Congress refused to support a second term for Kalam because he was nominated by the previous BJP-led government.

Congress said it was giving a woman the chance to occupy the top post and that her election would send a strong anti-discrimination message in India's 60th year of independence.

But the BJP charged that Patil was named due to her loyalty to India's powerful Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty and her friendship with the Italian-born party leader.

It launched an anti-Patil website with a banner that read: "India diminished, Indians disgraced."

Under the constitution, the prime minister wields most of the executive power. The president plays a role in forming government at the state and federal levels, which makes the job hotly contested.

In a bid to fight back, Congress has hit out at Shekhawat, questioning his patriotic credentials, saying he joined a British-run police force in pre-independence India in 1942 against Indian freedom fighters.

The election commission was to officially announce the results on Saturday. - AFP/de