The coming Presidential election and its aftermath

Amitava Mukherjee

(Amitava Mukherjee is a senior journalist and commentator and he can be contacted at amitavamukherjee253@gmail.com)

The first Presidential election in India which had a decisive effect on the future political course of the country was that of 1969 when VV Giri defeated Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. It denoted a momentous shift in Indian political history. Reddy was the official Congress candidate representing the Syndicate comprising Morarji Desai, Nijlingappa, Atulya Ghosh, SK Patil and Reddy himself. Going against party discipline the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi secretly sponsored VV Giri's candidature, called upon Congressmen to exercise 'vote of conscience', got Giri elected and engineered a vertical division of the Congress.

With this election Indian politics and economy took a decisive turn. The Communists had supported Indira at the time of the election and they influenced Indira's domestic and foreign policies in the days to come. India became closely entwined in the Soviet bloc and domestically state's intervention became more and more profound in economic sphere. India's profile became completely different from what it had been in the fifties and sixties. It will not be a misjudgment to say that the 1969 Presidential election heralded India's journey in the path of a culture of authoritarianism and sycophancy, which culminated in the promulgation of the Emergency by Indira Gandhi.

But the 1969 election was important for another reason also. This was the election which witnessed a real opposition, on whichever side one may count it, a sine qua non which is absolutely necessary for a diverse country like India. There is a common refrain running through different political parties and a wide spectrum of thoughts that the President of India should better be chosen through a consensus. This is debatable as acts of consensus in India have always exhibited the tendency of ignoring the voices of marginal communities. Considering the diverse nature of the country, there should always be contests. As the post of President is considered to be more of a titular position, real contests can give the post a real meaning.

Here the opposition parties in India have failed. After the 1977 Lok Sabha election Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy became President. Congress was in a pathetic state and was not expected to give any contest. There was an air of expectancy before the 2002 Presidential election. Shrugging off the slumber of many years opposition parties were gearing up to give a fight. But the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayiee gave a master stroke by fielding APJ Abdul Kalam as the NDA candidate. Forming almost a queue the major opposition parties including the Congress decided to support Kalam. Although Kalam was an outstanding candidate, the opposition bloc could have exhibited its own personality by searching for other similar candidates. It didn't. Only the CPM showed its mettle by fielding Lakshmi Seghal, the eminent freedom fighter. She was destined to lose.

This time the opposition has presented a hopeless picture. Their fundamental mistake lies in the fact that they look upon the Presidential election as dress rehearsal for the Lok Sabha poll of 2024. The moment they allowed themselves into such a false step, lots of destructive features crept in, most important of them being a game of one-upmanship. At a very late stage Sharad Pawar tried to do a course correction by cutting off Mamata Banerjee's brazen desire to catapult herself into the coveted position of the foremost leader in the opposition bloc. But it was too late. Sharad Pawar's decision of not contesting the election was a wise one. But inviting Gopal Krishna Gandhi was a foolish act. The former West Bengal Governor is a suave person. He has once tasted defeat by becoming the opposition candidate for the post of the Vice President of India. It should have been anticipated by the opposition leaders who had assembled in Delhi over a round table meeting that Gopal Krishna Gandhi would refuse when the offer has once been refused by Pawar.

Unfortunately Mamata Banerjee's actions may have thrown a big spanner into the effort of putting up a united opposition candidate in this year's Presidential election. The last conclave of opposition leaders in Delhi is a proof of it. The meeting was supposed to be convened by the Congress. Sonia Gandhi had telephonic conversations with Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee in this regard. Sonia had told both Pawar and Mamata that since she is ill Mallikarjun Kharge will talk to different political parties in this regard on her behalf. But to steal the show Mamata sent the letter of invitation to all the leaders before Kharge could act.

Trinamul Congress sources are wondering why Pawar refused to be the candidate. However it will not be unreasonable to conclude that pressures were mounted on him from inside his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), so as to not to contest as the opposition candidate. Shiv Sena was not enthusiastic about Gopal Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah's name had caused a deep discord within the opposition bloc. From the very beginning CPM and CPI had serious reservations about Mamata's modus operandi. It is worthwhile to note that neither the CPI nor the CPM had sent their top level leadership to the Mamata-convened meeting, while both Sitaram Yechury and D Raja, general secretaries of the CPM and the CPI respectively, had attended the second meeting at Mumbai which Sharad Pawar had convened. Adding more confusion to the opposition effort, the letter of invitation for the second meeting at Mumbai did not have any word about the first meeting in Delhi.

So Yashwant Sinha is the opposition candidate in absence of suitable candidates. Many opposition leaders are wondering whether the same picture would be witnessed at the time of the next general election. The name of Draupadi Murmu, the NDA candidate for the post of the next President of India, carries a deep meaning. It is not only a feather in the cap of the tribal communities of the country but will go a long way towards rejuvenating the BJP's concept of Maha Hindutva. Draupadi Murmu's selection is a very calculated move. It has already assured supports from the Biju Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and it may give rich dividends to the BJP in the coming assembly elections of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, not to speak of the next Lok Sabha poll.