Presidential Games....

The post of the President of the Republic of India is, by and large, a ceremonial post. The powers and authorities that are invested in the office of the President are rarely if ever exercised at the President’s discretion. He is perforce to consult the Prime Minister, and implicitly the Union Council of Ministers, when employing his prerogatives, and may not presume to employ the same at his own pleasure. The President is basically expected to reign but not rule.

Although this would seem to make him an inherently political animal, a vassal of the Prime Minister, till date, very few Presidents have ever behaved in a manner unbecoming of the stature expected of their office. Even the 5^th President, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, blackballed because of his decision to accede to the recommendation of the then incumbent Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, to impose a National Emergency, did so because of the proof and evidence that Mrs. Gandhi gave him, the veracity of which he ought to have checked but failed to do so. He did not enforce the Emergency because he felt like it or simply because Mrs. Gandhi told him so.

The precedents set by Dr. Radhakrishnan, R. Venkataraman, K.R. Narayanan and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam suggest that whilst a political creature may do well in the post of the President, a non-political one does equally well, if not better. On the contrary, political Presidents have often been susceptible to introducing their own policies into the spectrum and watching the Union Council squirm with discomfort. The discomfort arises from the fact that while the Union Council’s decisions, in no way, reflect on the President, the President’s remarks and opinions seem to be directly emanating from the depths of the Council itself.

Incidents exemplifying the proclivity of political Presidents to use their stature to further their own agendas, which may be benign, include the tussle between Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Pt. Nehru over the Hindu Code Bill, and the cold war between Giani Zail Singh and Rajiv Gandhi. Each incident further served to illustrate that whilst a President may be the titular head of the State, he is never to be deemed the head of the Government. That honour and privilege is that of the Prime Minister alone.

While I may have caused you to drop down dead with boredom, there is a method to my insanity, or so I would like to believe. The Left Front, the gaggle of Communist parties in the Indian political spectrum, has sounded their opposition to granting the incumbent, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a second term. Admittedly, there is one and only one precedent wherein a President has been elected to a second term and that too in 1955 (Dr. Rajendra Prasad). Since then, no President has ever been elected to a second term. So, those talking of a second term for Dr. Kalam are clearly against history here.

One member of the Forward Bloc opines that “the nation needs a political person to handle the problems confronting it.” I wonder how much a member of the political class could do to resolve these ‘problems’ considering it is the political class which is responsible to a large extent for these problems existing in the first place. Besides, a political person would have to be from a particular political party, and even if he/she should be acceptable enough to be elected, tomorrow when conflicts do arise, the risk persists that the office of the President could be sullied by allegations of partisan behaviour, which would do neither the nation nor its problems any good.

Still, if the candidate put forward is a decent person, and would maintain the still high standards of the Presidency, I don’t think that anyone should grudge the aspirant concerned his/her chance. Dr. Kalam has been an exemplary President, a unifying figure, and someone whose persona has transcended creed and age, in short everything that the Constitution expected from the person of the President. Should he be given another go at the post, it would be nice. If not, I pray and hope that his successor will be able to bear his legacy with ease and the same dignity that he showed.