Name the President game is on.
The saddest part is that we chose Presidents, not for their credentials, but because of symbolism. Take the last three Presidents.
K R Narayanan was a good diplomat. But he became a President because he was a Dalit. Not that he did anything special for the Dalits, either as a Diplomat, nor as a Minister in Rajiv Gandhi Government ( I should know, because he was elected from Ottappalam, near my home town, and did nothing for the constituency. I suspect he even visited the constituency even once after getting elected). He also played petty politics to undermine BJP forming a Government, based on the wrong advice of Gopal Gandhi, who is touted as an ideal candidate this time around.
Abdul Kalam was an eminent Physicist by right, but NDA brought him in as President mainly because he was a liberal Muslim. Though he endeared himself to the public, I personally feel he could have done much more, but chose not to. Remember, both K R Narayanan and Abdul Kalam had served as Government Servants, and their Babu mentality never left them, as it did not leave Manmohan Singh. But Kalam was instrumental in blocking Sonia become the PM (notwithstanding her claim of having made a 'sacrifice', the fact is that she went in to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan hoping to become PM, but came out being forced to announce the name of MMS). We should be thankful to him for that at least. He at least restored the dignity of the Office of the President, which had diminished over the years.
The current incumbent, Pratibha Patil, is a disgrace, who was elected only because she was a woman, and loyal to Sonia. Elevating her hardly did anything to improve the lots of women.
Then why are we still looking for symbolism while electing the next President?
Ansari is in the fray, because he is a Muslim, not because of his other credentials. Meira Kumar, because she is a Dalit and a woman. Gopal Gandhi, because he is from the original Gandhi family............. the list is endless.
Why not someone from the Army, which has been silently suffering and ignored? The President is the Chief of the Army. Would it not be ideal to have an Ex Service Chief as President? At least the Army will be proud when they salute him. And he can bat for the betterment of the Army. Why not General V K Singh? The guy is honest to a fault, has a mind of his own, and this is one master way of correcting the wrong done to him.
Or for that matter, why not the current Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia? (see pic on the right). He is a gem of a person, eminent jurist and possess spotless integrity. He has single handedly restored the power and dignity of the Supreme Court, after the disastrous tenure of Justice Balakrishnan, who was corrupt to the boot. If he can do something to straighten out the Legal system which is in a mess, the purpose would have been served.
At least we can do wishful thinking, can't we?
