I am one of those deeply disappointed by unfolding events in the presidential elections. I was hoping that Dr. Kalam would be President for another term. I thought he really captured the imagination of the nation’s younger population. He had the background and ability to motivate and advice people. The fact that he was born in a poor family in rameshwaram and risen all the way to the president office was itself a source of inspiration to many people. He had the ability to think of the future and articulate visions that excited a lot of people. Though President’s post is largely a ceremonial one, many people got interested in the presidency for the first time during Kalam's time. Even if the successor had good credentials, it still would have been a tall order to match up to Kalam. Now with the current set of unexciting candidates, I doubt if people will remain interested in the president’s office.
The other issue is the spin that is being put by the ruling party(s) about their candidate Pratiba Patil being the first women President of the country. From all reports, it is clear that she was a compromise candidate after all the first choice (male) candidates were not acceptable to all coalition parties. Having a women President would be a good thing, provided we have the right candidate. Don’t we have better women candidates? Frankly we have had a women (Indira Gandhi) in a more powerful Prime Minister position and she is considered the strongest PM of India. In this regard, we are much better than many western democracies. US, France hasn’t had a women president and Germany had it only recently.
Coming back to presidential poll, all the media reports about the skeletons tumbling from Pratiba Patil’s past is only adding to people’s uneasiness. It is almost as if the politician’s are not happy about Kalam’s huge popularity & credibility relative to their’s and so want to impose one of their ilk on the people so as to restore the balance.
To end this piece, I would say most of us want as President (male or female) who could represent the aspirations of the young and rising India.
