By dint of being a Republic, India can elect its constitutional head, the President. The entire governance in the country runs on “the pleasure of the President” on paper. However, it has rarely been the case when the institution of Presidency has made a difference to the governance of the nation in all these 62 years.
The first President Dr Rajendra Prasad had an advisory role to the Nehru government and was almost like a father figure. Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan had brought in a certain amount of dignity and class to Presidency. His interventions in public education were notworthy.
But after them, for a long period, Presidents were known for three reasons: silence, sycophancy, or President’s Rule in the states ruled by parties antagonistic to the rulers at the Centre.
There were instances of President Fakuruddin Ali Ahmed literally arm-twisted to sign on the dotted line by the Indira government to declare emergency, and President Gyani Jail Singh even opening door for PM Indira Gandhi to take seat in her car! President Ali passed away within days of declaring emergency against his wishes.
Article 356 to declare President’s Rule in states on occasions of violence or no clear majority after a state election has been used, abused and even not used when it should have been by the Presidents on the whims of the rulers at the Centre, usually of Congress. Dismissals of Namboodripad government in Kerala, United Front government in West Bengal, or of five state governments in one stroke during Indira rule are cases in point. On the other hand, 1992-93 Mumbai violence of post Godhra Gujarat violence did not make the Central Governments (first one of Congress and the other of BJP led NDA) use Presidency to rightfully bring in President’s Rule in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Interestingly, a few of the luminaries who could not become Presidents having attempted in the past include Justice V Krishna Iyer, T N Seshan, INA Commander Lakshmi Sehgal, among others.
It was only during the Presidency of APJ Abdul Kalam that the institution achieved the status of People’s President. Kalam’s Vision 2020, igniting young minds across the nation, roadmap for a urban and rural development, et al, brought back the thought of a Mission and Vision for India, desperately wanting a break from politics of convenience and connivance. The President’s website was for the first time a compulsory visit for many journalists, educationists and social workers.
But narrow sectarian politics would not allow him a second tenure.
In the name of women power in Presidency, the current President, Pratibha Patil, assumed office as a decision of convenience and safety for Congress and its leader Sonia Gandhi. She completes her lacklustre term, with its quota of controversies as well, in July 2012.
The Republic will get its next President by mid 2012. From the look of it, the new President has to be from the Congress. Conventional wisdom says that either Manmohan Singh or Pranab Mukherjee may be put up by Congress as a prelude to bringing in a possible Rahul Gandhi raj at the Centre. Manmohan Singh if Rahul wishes to assume power after a possible good showing in the coming state elections. If that does not happen, Pranab Mukherjee may be put up as a reward for agreeing to be number two in the Central government since the times of Indira Gandhi.
Or else, the long-standing expectant Dr Karan Singh is always there, if the Congress decides not to go for a second term for Pratibha Patil.
Whoever comes in, the office of the Presidency needs a proactive statesman’s role at this crucial juncture of the republican polity in India, going beyond the government brief and looking beyond the exigencies of the moment.
