Don't make Pranab the President

Never ever have I seen so much drama in Indian Presidential poll and I have seen at least some Presidential elections. Actually not seen the elections, usually you would hear in the news that soon our MPs and MLAs would vote for a new President and X,Y and Z are the nominees and then couple of weeks later, you have a new Prez!! But this time I think we have come very close to US presidential election fervor, starting right from the squabble between the alliance partners over the nominees to major parties failing to reach a consensus. Not that all the previous presidents have been elected by consensus but given the constitutional sanctity of the office of President it is considered a good practice to elect someone a President on whom all the stakeholders agree. That helps the stakeholders digest the President's decisions (the very few he is entitled to make on his own) much more easily - the most important being the appointment of the Prime Minister which brings me to why I don't think Pranab is the right man for this job!

Given the fractured state of Indian polity today and the completely tattered moral fabric of the ruling congress party - I do not think a old timer and a 10 Janpath loyalist like Pranab Mukherjee should be made the President - especially if there is no consensus on  his candidature. This becomes all the more important when you think of what the current Govt. has been upto (scams, blatant CYAs and absolutely no sense of purpose or direction) and how Pranab Mukherjee has been a central actor in this 3 year long charade. The biggest testimony of his lack of righteousness was the way he carried himself during his meeting with Team Anna on lokpal bill (you have to have to hear those tapes where Kapil Sibal tried playing the Bad cop and Pranab the good old neutral grand daddy but stalling every suggestion in the process!) and  thats where he missed out a golden opportunity to indelibly etch his name forever in Indian history as the 'janam-data' of the anti-corruption body and movement in India - but then he was just following the orders of his bosses!

Given the we are just two years away (or even less the way things are going right now) and the fact that a fractured verdict is going to be the most likely result - a neutral President is a must and not someone who owes his job to the political masters. Consider the scenario where both BJP and congress are neck to neck after the next general elections and it boils down to president's interpretation of who has the majority based on the support of smaller parties - a biased person occupying the President's office can easily abuse the office. And a repeat of the same Govermental set-up ...well would be disastrous to say the least.

While the citizens of this country do not have a direct vote or say in Presidential elections - how I wish we could impress upon our politicians and push for putting in place a neutral candidate who would uphold the sanctity of the President's office and hold close to his/her heart the interest of the people when it would come to the most important decisions - as that could be the final nail or a game-changer in the nation's destiny. I, for one do not trust Pranab Mukherjee for this august office and role - for him it is just going to be a retirement plan while for his bosses a way to keep a potential PM aspirant and therefore, a trouble-maker out of the way - we need better reasons for making someone a president and definitely a better person to be the President!