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Monday 16 July, 2007

Right President for the Present Times

Recently, after attending a seminar on the above subject by “Social Cause” here in Hyderabad, I was wondering whether it was right for a phenomenon called Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam to assume office as the President of India five years ago. But for Dr Kalam not becoming the President, we would have been spared of all this “hue and cry” on the Presidential election.Think about this for a moment. Since independence, successive Prime Ministers (leader (s) of the Cabinet of Ministers) have made the post of the President devoid of any Constitutional Powers making him the “Rubber Stamp.”

In fact, according to Dr. T H Chowdary, Former IT Advisor, Govt. of AP, before Dr Kalam, Dr Rajendra Prasad the first President of India was the only one to have brought some value to the position of the President of India where he debated with the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru on Hindu Legislation in the Constitution.


In a Country where a President is synonymous with a “Rubber Stamp,” Dr Kalam represented the Times, which India is passing through by positioning himself as a “Youth Icon.” The impact was such that an entire nation overwhelmingly felt that he alone is the right candidate for a second term at Rashtrapati Bhavan.


Obviously, this is not a digestible “Pill” for the ruling party more so in the present times where no party is bound to get absolute majority. It is double-trouble if an intellectual like Dr Kalam assumes office. In a nutshell, as Dr. T H Chowdary, said, “ The ruling party wants a President who is a YES man/woman.”


And this has been the case for many a Presidential election. President’s being subservient to Prime Ministers is nothing knew. However, the choice here is magnified because Dr Kalam was a perfect ambassador to India as also a motivating agent for youth in India.


All we can pray for the present Presidential office is that the new person assuming office will emulate Dr Kalam as he set the benchmark for the “Right President.” Alternatively, what we can do is elect the right politicians (who have proximity to our political system) in the next General Elections, as they in turn will elect the “Right President for the Right Times.”


Personally, I feel ashamed and at times angered to be among the people who are deprived of having a President of their choice as also being on the verge of accepting somebody with a dubious record as the future President of my Nation.


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Article devised based on the opinions aired by Dr. T.H. Chowdary, Former IT Advisor, Govt. of AP; Sri MVR Sastry, Editor, Andhra Bhoomi; Dr. AV Satish Chandra, Asst. Professor, Department of Political Science, Osmania University; Dr. R.C. Sastry, Chairman and Chief Consultant, Stony Carter; Dr. T.S. Ramakrishna, Director Geophysics (retd.), Geological Survey of India and Founder and Secretary, ESWARA and Sri M. Srinivas, Founder & CEO, Osmosys.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Sir,

your article and views expressed were really interested. let us hope the right persons for right posts would be tomorrow's India.

rohini rao

Unknown said...

Sir,

your article and views expressed were really interested. let us hope the right persons for right posts would be tomorrow's India.

rohini rao