People's Democracy

EDITORIAL

On Presidential Elections

WITH the support extended by the Left parties, on the one hand, and the Bahujan Samaj Party, on the other, the UPA presidential candidate Pratibha Patil is certain to enter the Rashtrapati Bhawan as the first woman president of the Indian Republic.

The Left parties had set forth three criteria that the future president of India should possess, viz., he/she should be a person well versed with the political complexities of the present times; should be a person with impeccable secular credentials; and should be a person capable of maintaining the balance between the executive, legislature and the judiciary as mandated by our Constitution. While many experienced and mature leaders would fulfil these criteria, the CPI(M) had said that it would support the person on whom there would be the widest possible agreement amongst political parties. Eventually, such a wide acceptance came around Pratibha Patil, the governor of Rajasthan.

In this entire process, the principal opposition party – the BJP – and the NDA emerged more inconsistent and opportunistic than what is usually ascribed to them. Former prime minister Vajpayee, who had been authorised by the NDA to name the opposition’s candidate for the presidential election, said as early as May 22, 2007, “We have conveyed to president Abdul Kalam that a consensus could not be evolved on a second term for him”. Subsequently, the BJP had announced that they will field the incumbent vice president, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, as their candidate.

However, soon after the UPA announced its candidate, the BJP/NDA cried foul claiming that they were not consulted and, hence, a consensus on Patil is not possible. Their inconsistency can be measured by the fact that last time around after the NDA had decided to field Dr Kalam, it had approached others seeking consensual support. While the Congress had agreed and extended support to Dr Kalam, the Left felt that since Dr Kalam was a BJP/NDA nominee, it could not support him and, hence, fielded the legendary freedom fighter and INA heroine, Dr Lakshmi Sehgal. At that time, the BJP/NDA refused to support the incumbent president K R Narayanan stating that no president of India, except for the first, Rajendra Prasad, served a second term. With no compunction, this time around, they have jettisoned all these principles. There was, however, more in store.

When the United National People’s Alliance (UNPA) consisting of the regional parties, who had lost the last round of elections in their states, decided not to support either a Congress or a BJP candidate, they approached president Kalam asking if he would be prepared to contest. Even to their surprise, the incumbent president agreed, but with a caveat. He said he would contest only if there was a certainty of victory – an unusual condition in a democratic election!

When the UNPA approached the BJP/NDA, they virtually abandoned their own candidate to seriously consider supporting Dr Kalam again. By this time, the UPA’s candidate was not only announced but the process of preparing the nominations had begun. In any case, as far as the Left is concerned, there was no question of supporting Dr Kalam having in the first place contested against him in the last elections. With the UPA also firmly rejecting any consideration of his candidature, the BJP/NDA realised that the numbers were not in favour of assuring Dr Kalam any degree of `certainty’. The BJP then fell back upon Shekhawat who has since filed his nomination as an independent candidate!

Reports suggest that Dr Kalam couldn’t resist the temptation of seeking a second term as he was overwhelmed by the response he received in cyber space for continuing as the president. His email, media informs, was choked with such requests. In this context, it must be underlined that the president of India is president for Indian citizens, and not just for netizens who constitute a miniscule minority of Indian citizens. Further, the number of emails required to jam a personal computer may not be sufficient as the number of votes required, say, to win a municipal ward election. Dr Kalam should have gracefully relinquished office as all his previous illustrious predecessors had done.

Finally, however, Dr Kalam was forced to see the reality. The UNPA, in all probability, may abstain from voting –– consistent with its stand of not supporting either a Congress or a BJP nominee.

Such manoeuvres are a sad commentary on the standards of political morality in India today. On this score as well, the future president will have to set new benchmarks that will serve our country and people well.