It is not often that Renuka Chowdhury says something and makes you think. But in this case, you have to think really hard, as her statement (later withdrawn in deep panic) that Pranabda was too important to be spared for Rashtrapati Bhavan raises contrary possibilities.
Is it meant to be a compliment to this cabinet’s busiest minister? Or is this her stunningly candid view on the republic’s presidency as sinecure? Further, if Pranabda is so brilliant and has been such a diligent servant of the government and the party for so long, shouldn’t he be deservingly rewarded with the presidency, particularly if he wants it? And if the presidency is indeed such a faltu job that the Congress/UPA can only afford to give it to somebody it doesn’t particularly need and can easily spare, as she suggests, then why even consider your most hard-working minister? Renuka Chowdhury herself might be a good candidate then.
There are two issues here. The presidency was never a mere sinecure and is definitely not so in these decades of unsettled polity. Second, it is perfectly normal for a politician after a successful, five-decade career in national politics to covet that honour. Particularly so when the prime ministership has never been within his reach. You will not/cannot make him prime minister in what is, most likely, his last innings in public office (He will be 80 in 2014). There is a vacancy arising in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. If he wants it, you owe it to him to come clean. Either say yes, with good grace that gives him dignity and pleases his friends and admirers across the political spectrum. Or tell him now that you cannot give it to him and why, and if you have anything to offer to console or compensate him. You cannot subject the second most important member of your government (after the prime minister) and the third most significant in your party (after Sonia and Rahul) to this ignominy of daily, real-time speculation. Or expose him to the usual five o’clock follies of your spokespersons, in whose defence the only thing you can say is that they do not know what they are talking about.
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In India, there is no practice of the newspapers endorsing candidates for the presidency. You’d also say that all the other candidates mentioned in this build-up, particularly Vice-President Hamid Ansari, and even Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, look very well qualified for the job. So it is a rich, competitive field. Yet, if Pranab Mukherjee wants the job, he is not only the natural front-runner, he should have the right of first refusal on it. The debate on whether the president should be political or non-political is utter rubbish. The constitutional head of the republic is a political job and has to be performed as such, irrespective of where you find your incumbent from. If you have doubts, check the record of the Kalam presidency. He may have been trained as a missile engineer, but had to function as our most political president, handling with moral authority and political elan issues like Central rule in Patna in 2005, controversial judicial appointments, a national transition from NDA to UPA in 2004, and the Office of Profit Bill. And remember the first thing he did on being elected Rashtrapati on the NDA ticket? He went to Ahmedabad to talk to the riot victims as guardian of the Constitution. Hamid Ansari too has learnt the craft of politics well, as his stewardship of the Rajya Sabha has shown lately.
So, with the political/apolitical question out of the way, you really have no choice other than first looking Pranab in the eye and saying yes or no. And if you say no, you have to tell him why. Surely it can’t be just that he is indispensable to this cabinet. If it is, what can you find to compensate him? And if it is still the memory of some particularly problematic events in the winter of 1984, you will need to tell him so. Of course, he might then ask and with justification how come you still found him fit for every other job, defence, finance and external affairs, scores of GoMs and EGoMs, but not for three: home, prime ministership and the presidency.
A political call, however, is not like a judicial verdict. It does not have to follow any law in letter or spirit. Nor is it a UPSC selection. It is a subjective decision. So the Congress leadership would be perfectly within its rights to deny him the job and offer the nation, and UPA allies, another choice. But they are being brutally unfair to Pranab, and to the presidency, in the manner in which they are allowing this issue to play out. Sonia Gandhi is right when she says there is still time. A candidate does not have to be nominated for another six weeks or so. But does that still apply if Pranab Mukherjee is a candidate?
The answer is no. The way to deal with this is, call a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) now and decide whether it will be Pranab or not. Because for his sake, and frankly, for the sake of India’s economy, you need to bring clarity on this. If the CWC says yes, everything else will fall into place. That he will be a most certain winner is not something his worst enemies and there aren’t many in our politics will dispute. He will be a natural fit. But if the CWC decides he will not be their candidate, it is better to say so now, giving him dignity (which he so deserves) and clarity (which his current job so greatly needs). He has made some rare mistakes lately: the visit to meet Baba Ramdev at the airport, and some of the most shockingly retrograde (and un-Pranab-like) tax provisions in this latest budget. He has to be given time, space and calm to correct the course on at least these. You cannot reduce him to an angry bystander, or a mere speculative candidate for another six weeks and presume that he will spend these lobbying. Pranab Mukherjee is no Zail Singh.
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