Thanks to UPA for 'dirty' Presidential polls

By the time, you start reading this the tenure of Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam as the President of India might just have been over. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat might have lost and Pratibha Patil Shekhawat might have just stepped in, with all dirty allegations, into the Rastrapati Bhavan bringing along loads of happiness to 'Madam' Sonia Gandhi. Though controversies for Presidential elections are not new in the country, it had never been so 'dirty' ever before.

When India was to become a Republic on 26 January 1950 the question arose as to who should become the country's first President. Rajagopalachari, as the first Indian Governor General was a logical choice and favored by Nehru. Others saw Rajendra Prasad, who had presided over the constituent assembly, as the appropriate candidate. Foreseeing this Nehru was troubled and wrote to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 15 September 1949:

"I am told that active and rigorous canvassing has taken place on this subject and there is a large majority who favor Rajendra Babu. The Biharis, of course, are in it, the Andhras, and a good number of Tamils. Then generally, the protagonists of Hindi favor Rajendra Babu. I was a little surprised to learn that Shyama Prasad Mookerjee also favors him. This is merely not a question of favoring Rajendra Babu, but rather of deliberately keeping Rajaji out. One of the most active agents in this business is Goenka."

The Goenka, mentioned by Nehru, was none other than Ramnath Goenka, fondly known as RNG, the great Patriarch of Freedom of Press and founder of the Indian Express Group. If Rajendra Prasad had won, it was solely due to the mastermind of RNG and his Indian Express. RNG is no more, but his Indian Express Group does exist.

This July Indian Express published a series of investigative Articles by its former Editor Arun Shourie, who brought out amazing as well as disturbing facts about the Congress-Communist joint presidential candidate.

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, whose victory is as distant as the sun from earth is fighting it out rather fiercely. However, why is he doing so? At this age, a retirement would just be more than enduring but he is reluctant to give up. His act reminds me of what Krishna had said to Arjuna in Bhagavad-Gita:

It means,

He has demonstrated his fight for a 'Cause' when he acclaimed that he would step aside if Dr. Kalam steps in to contest. Kalam, of course, did the right thing when he decided to stay away from the dirt of politics.

When I recall of people talking in streets as to for what reason he was not given a second term, it reminds me of Kautilya's maxim which reads, "In the woods that tree is chopped first which is straight. Similarly in politics that person is sacrificed who is straightforward." Kalam was a person who was too right and extremely just in his behavior.

Dr. Kalam was a rare persona who without working knowledge of either political system or the constitution became the President. His rich experience in the elite sector of science and technology may have led to some inspiring and exasperating encounters with babudom but it left him insulated from the political establishments. He encountered the most enlightened face of Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and MP's in parliamentary consultative committees; he never had occasion to be familiar with the seamy and less appetizing facets of public life. Having spent a life burrowing into the challenging complexities of missile development, he was untainted by the duplicity and deceit. Kalam entered the political world without anything more than a perfunctory knowledge of what "political compulsions" meant. He literally arrived in Rastrapati Bhavan without baggage.

There were two occasions when Kalam erred. The first and relatively unpublicized occasion was his demand that the Vajpayee Government after dissolving parliament in 2004 be substituted with a non-partisan caretaker regime. This was a gesture of improvisation, that may have been grounded in the principle of fairness but, it lacked constitutional sanction, it was a piece of adventurism that Kalam wisely did not persist with.

The second occasion was when he accepted Governor Buta Singh's report on the constitutional breakdown in Bihar after the first 2006 Assembly elections in Bihar. Kalam, it is said, was misled by the Prime Minister's urgent plea and thus hurriedly signed the proclamation in Moscow. Subsequently, the Supreme Court declared the move illegal, although it refrained from being critical of Rastrapati Bhavan. A humiliated Kalam vowed to be doubly cautious in future and never to accept the government's advice without an independent application of mind. He learnt from his mistakes.

It is evident that, Kalam, by his mere presence threatened the ramshackle edifice on Indian public life rests. He was a threat to the core assumption of politics. He symbolized the Indian quest for decency and uprightness in public life. This was the core reason why he was thrashed aside for a more conventional and malleable occupant of Rastrapati Bhavan.

It is now time to bid adieu to Kalam - a man who will continue to live on in the minds of Indians as a Legend.
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