Presidential elections Russia 2012

With less than a month remaining until the Kremlin vote, the presidential campaign is picking up steam nationwide.

Following a brief look at the five candidates who made it on the ballot, detailing how they got there, who they are and which part of the increasingly politicized Russian populace might tick their name on March 4.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин) - Еди́ная Росси́я, Yedínaya Rossíya centre-right; conservative

Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov (Генна́дий Андре́евич Зюга́нов) - Коммунистическая партия Российской Федерации; КПРФ; Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Rossiyskoy Federatsii

Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (Влади́мир Во́льфович Жирино́вский) - Либерально-Демократическая Партия России (ЛДПР), Liberal'no-Demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii (LDPR): liberal-democratic
Zhirinovsky was and still remains the nation’s top populist. With slogans such as “a bloke for every broad, a bottle of vodka for every bloke,” his Liberal Democratic Party led the 1993 parliamentary vote with 22 percent, essentially kickstarting Zhirinovsky’s career that has since encompassed many a brawl with opponents on camera and flaming speeches that laughed in the face of all that is politically correct.

Sergey Mikhailovich Mironov (Сергéй Михáйлович Мирóнов) - Справедливая Россия, СР, Spravedlivaya Rossiya: social-democratic. Have a look at his blog. At RIA Novosti Mironov is discribed as 'the undecided one' as he's not really anti-Kremlin as other SR-members.

source: RIA novosti

Mikhail Dmitrievitch Prokhorov (Михаил Дмитриевич Прóхоров) - Правое дело, Pravoye delo: centre right; liberal - democratic - conservative  
Prokhorov, one of Russia’s richest businessmen and owner of the American basketball team the New Jersey Nets, is the only independent candidate to run in the March 4 presidential election. He would like to form his own political party that would be larger than the ruling United Russia.
While he was running Norilsk Nickel, the company became the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium. He is the former chairman of Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, and former President of ONEXIM Group. He resigned both positions when he entered politics in June, 2011.
According RIA novosti most voters are convinced Prokhorov is a Kremlin project, but for many, it would not matter: a large part of the populace just wants to vote against Putin, and in this situation, any candidate would do. Though the old and the poor would prefer Communist Gennady Zyuganov, many in the middle class are likely to opt for Prokhorov, who braved the street protests this winter (getting pelted once by snowballs from the anarchists) and who made the right political noises, putting forth an admittedly populist program of reforms that targets the “creative class,” promising political freedoms, improving the economic climate and reining in the bureaucracy – in essence, dismantling the legacy of Putin, who is the main target of protesters. But Prokhorov also flirted with the ruling establishment, saying he would not mind being a prime minister under a victorious Putin, or even keep him as the head of the government if Prokhorov himself ascends to the Kremlin, hardly a popular idea with the “creative class,” which is united in its dislike of Putin.
Check also his blog.

More info: RIA Novosti, Vesti.ru