Rajendra Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil was in the list of the 159 candidates announced by the Congress for Maharashtra Assembly polls - Though, as a registered voter of Maharashtra, there is nothing to prevent him from contesting the Assembly elections, questions have to be asked as to how proper is it for the incumbent Presidents son to be a canidate of a political party. Can an ordinary citizen be faulted if he were to question the Presidents neutrality viz a viz the ruling party. This is disgusting to say the least.
But this is not the first time an incumbent Presidents son has contested. Way back in 1970s, the then President V V Giri's son, Shankar Giri won on Congress ticket from Madhya Pradesh. It is no coincidence that it took another 30 years and A P J Abdul Kalam to bring back the dignity of the Presidents office.
And we have the absurd case of M S Gill, the Chief Election Commissioner, another Constitutional head, getting elected to Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket and then becoming the Minister for Sports and youth affairs.
We should draw a line somewhere or else people will lose faith in our democratic institutions. Congress, more than any other party, has systematically destroyed many democratic institutions.
