Of politics, power plays and the people's choice

Its no secret that among the Indian populace Dr.Kalam is well respected and liked by all. Be it for his down to earth character, love for children, or the eagerness to make a difference in the society (irrespective of the fact that some people are bored to death by his overzealous ways of either asking the reporters to repeat after him or egging the youth to take oaths to serve the society). He is been the most easily accessible of the lot and the most pleasant to interact with.

If there is any semblance of pride and honesty left in the current Indian Government set up it is not because of any of the politicians but rather due to the presence of stalwarts like Kalam.When such a man is made President, one should understand that the Honour is not only for the incumbent but also for the office. He is not a politician who mongers for votes and fights for power. He accepted Presidency as a Honorary post (which it is anyways). The common man would prefer him to have a second term because he represents the ideal persona that every Indian would like to have in the Goverment: friendly, sincere and most importantly incorrupt. He is somewhat like a brand image.

Consider the scenario in which he was made a President. Kalam did say he will take over as President provided there is a consensus. And unlike the fickle politicians he has not changed his stance today and has reiterated the same thing. I think he is being professional about it. The position in question is not that of a Prime Minister or Party Chief, the powers of which tempts many people to fight for it. Its about being the President of India, a position equivalent to that of a bird with clipped wings. He said he is willing to be the President for a second term as long as there is no squabbling among parties. Meaning: if everyone likes him to stay he will, else he will vacate the office.What he implies is that he does not wish to stand for an election as if he is personally interested in occupying a position of power. For people like Pawar who fish in the troubled waters of politics its fine to stand in elections and to be amidst controversies. But for a person like Kalam who represents the timid, educated section of the populace, it is awkward and embarrassing to say the least.

Under these circumstances, Pawar has resorted to rhetorics against Kalam when he made public his decision for the second term. Pawar has said:"The game is over for Kalam. He is no longer in the team....". And the I&B Minister has said that the statements are "unfortunate, uncalled for and unexpected". It is despicable that Kalam has been relegated to a level where people like Pawar and Dasmunsi make comments about how he should behave.

The elections for Presidency is not as Democratic as Pawar makes it out to be. When Congress decides upon a candidate, the party head is going to instruct all its voting members to vote for that candidate. There is going to be no room for individual reasoning and voting. Same is the case with the other parties. It finally boils down to what the heads of the main parties think. So when Kalam means there should be a consensus he just wants to know that he has the support of the main party heads. Its not like candidates contest and after an uncertain period of vote counting, the results will be known after a week. Once each party puts forth their candidates, the winner is going to be obviously decided by parties having the majority share. So there is no blatant breach of Democracy by Kalam as portrayed by the politicians. It is really funny, this case of the pot calling the kettle black. Though in this case the kettle is nowhere as black as the pot is.