Presidential talks
Another question... What should be the qualification of our President? Political exposure? Social stature? Exemplary achievement? Proximity to the rich and the powerful? Or, sycophancy?
Yet another question… whose candidate will emerge victorious this time? The UPA’s? The NDA’s? or a perceived third front with the Left’s support?
Now my last question…Should there be a reservation for the President’s post? Why not a quota for a specific category of people in the name of social justice? After all, it is there for many government posts and political constituencies. Why can’t someone from the weaker section of our Society become the President of our country?
I ask these questions as I ponder over what goes in to the election of the first citizen of our great nation. What are the criteria for the selection of the candidates for our President’s post?
Please don’t misunderstand me. We have had some great luminaries as our Presidents. They have been extraordinary intellectuals, freedom fighters, scholars and educationists, scientists and the country is proud of each one of them. There are stalwarts such as Padma Vibhushan Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, who unsuccessfully contested for the high post in the past. (She lost to yet another stalwart, the father of Indian missile technology and Bharat Ratna APJ Abdul Kalam in 2002).
But after 1990s, in an era of coalition politics, the demand for a “friendly” President is ever on rise. It is easy to know why, given the brittle nature of political alliances. Take the example of R. Venkataraman. After the fall of the VP Singh government, he had accepted a Congress (I) - Janata Dal(S) arrangement which, in the words of noted constitutional expert A.G.Noorani, “had none of the features essential for the installation of a minority or a coalition government”. The move was perhaps in his concern to avert a general election, but it generated a lot of controversy.
Imagine a President who is critical of the government of the day! Take the example of Zail Singh. His estranged relationship with Rajiv Gandhi is well documented and went on to establish the “real” powers of a President under Article 78 of Constitution --- That, a President, has every right to know the full facts of a scandal and to demand pertinent information from the Prime Minister.
Yet, it was the same Zail Singh, who was quoted as saying that “If my leader had said I should pick up a broom and be a sweeper, I would have done that. She (The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) chose me to be President”.
Of course personal loyalty has helped in the president’s election on many occasions in the past. But it matters even more in today’s scenario, when everyday a new scam breaks out, and when the government and the opposition, both deride probity and face credibility crisis and the alliance partners resort to open blackmailing or the politics of give and take.
Therefore the pre-requisite for the selection of the presidential candidate should be the following (correct me if I am wrong in my analysis):
-- (S)he should be able to create a vote bank for its benefactor party. (That is why caste and religion would be important)
-- (S)he should be trusted upon by its benefactor in case of a fractured mandate in 2014 general elections. (So political affiliation and cronyism would be important)
-- (S)he should be predictable. (That is why a known political crisis manager with friends in all parties would be important – (am I hinting at Pranab Mukherjee? Not intentionally).
So whose candidate will emerge victorious this time? My answer would be that please wait for the selection first.
Now coming to my last question that should there be a reservation for the President’s post?
PA Sangma should know the answer.
(The writer is a senior journalist and filmmaker).
Presidential talks
May 29, 2012 06:27 PM
By Deepak Parvatiyar
Who should be our next President? A Brahmin? A dalit? A tribal? An OBC? A Muslim? A Christian? A Sikh? Why not a Parsi? We never had a Parsi president. On second thoughts, why not yet another woman? Afterall, we only had just one woman president in the last sixty years!
Who should be our next President? A Brahmin? A dalit? A tribal? An OBC? A Muslim? A Christian? A Sikh? Why not a Parsi? We never had a Parsi president. On second thoughts, why not yet another woman? Afterall, we only had just one woman president in the last sixty years!
Another question... What should be the qualification of our President? Political exposure? Social stature? Exemplary achievement? Proximity to the rich and the powerful? Or, sycophancy?
Yet another question… whose candidate will emerge victorious this time? The UPA’s? The NDA’s? or a perceived third front with the Left’s support?
Please don’t misunderstand me. We have had some great luminaries as our Presidents. They have been extraordinary intellectuals, freedom fighters, scholars and educationists, scientists and the country is proud of each one of them. There are stalwarts such as Padma Vibhushan Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, who unsuccessfully contested for the high post in the past. (She lost to yet another stalwart, the father of Indian missile technology and Bharat Ratna APJ Abdul Kalam in 2002).
Now my last question…Should there be a reservation for the President’s post? Why not a quota for a specific category of people in the name of social justice? After all, it is there for many government posts and political constituencies. Why can’t someone from the weaker section of our Society become the President of our country?
I ask these questions as I ponder over what goes in to the election of the first citizen of our great nation. What are the criteria for the selection of the candidates for our President’s post?
Please don’t misunderstand me. We have had some great luminaries as our Presidents. They have been extraordinary intellectuals, freedom fighters, scholars and educationists, scientists and the country is proud of each one of them. There are stalwarts such as Padma Vibhushan Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, who unsuccessfully contested for the high post in the past. (She lost to yet another stalwart, the father of Indian missile technology and Bharat Ratna APJ Abdul Kalam in 2002).
But after 1990s, in an era of coalition politics, the demand for a “friendly” President is ever on rise. It is easy to know why, given the brittle nature of political alliances. Take the example of R. Venkataraman. After the fall of the VP Singh government, he had accepted a Congress (I) - Janata Dal(S) arrangement which, in the words of noted constitutional expert A.G.Noorani, “had none of the features essential for the installation of a minority or a coalition government”. The move was perhaps in his concern to avert a general election, but it generated a lot of controversy.
Imagine a President who is critical of the government of the day! Take the example of Zail Singh. His estranged relationship with Rajiv Gandhi is well documented and went on to establish the “real” powers of a President under Article 78 of Constitution --- That, a President, has every right to know the full facts of a scandal and to demand pertinent information from the Prime Minister.
Yet, it was the same Zail Singh, who was quoted as saying that “If my leader had said I should pick up a broom and be a sweeper, I would have done that. She (The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) chose me to be President”.
Of course personal loyalty has helped in the president’s election on many occasions in the past. But it matters even more in today’s scenario, when everyday a new scam breaks out, and when the government and the opposition, both deride probity and face credibility crisis and the alliance partners resort to open blackmailing or the politics of give and take.
Therefore the pre-requisite for the selection of the presidential candidate should be the following (correct me if I am wrong in my analysis):
-- (S)he should be able to create a vote bank for its benefactor party. (That is why caste and religion would be important)
-- (S)he should be trusted upon by its benefactor in case of a fractured mandate in 2014 general elections. (So political affiliation and cronyism would be important)
-- (S)he should be predictable. (That is why a known political crisis manager with friends in all parties would be important – (am I hinting at Pranab Mukherjee? Not intentionally).
So whose candidate will emerge victorious this time? My answer would be that please wait for the selection first.
Now coming to my last question that should there be a reservation for the President’s post?
PA Sangma should know the answer.
(The writer is a senior journalist and filmmaker).
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