Let us give the new President a chance

M. Gautham Machaiah

Our elitist mindset often creates a bias against people who do not measure up to our own convoluted standards. The same holds good for President-elect Ram Nath Kovind who has received a luke warm response from the day his candidature was announced. But are we right in pre-judging the man because he has maintained a low profile all his life?

There have been several precedents where the President of India has risen above party considerations to uphold the Constitution. Kovind's impartial role as Bihar Governor gives an indication that he might follow in the path of some of his illustrious predecessors.

In 1996, President Shankar Dayal Sharma, a thorough bred Congressman invited A.B. Vajpayee to form the government because the BJP had emerged as the single largest party though it did not even have a simple majority. The government fell in 13 days. Sharma could have created a condusive atmosphere for the Congress and allies to form the government, but he did not.

In 1998, President K.R. Narayanan, another Congressman, set a healthy preced Our elitistic mindset often creates a bias against people who do not measure up to our own convoluted standards. The same holds good for President-elect Ram Nath Kovind who has received a luke warm response from the day his candidature was announced. But are we right in pre-judging the man because he has maintained a low profile all his life?

There have been several precedents where the President of India has risen above party considerations to uphold the Constitution. Kovind's impartial role as Bihar Governor gives an indication that he might follow in the path of some of his illustrious predecessors.

In 1996, President Shankar Dayal Sharma, a thorough bred Congressman invited A.B. Vajpayee to form the government because the BJP had emerged as the single largest party though it did not even have a simple majority. The government fell in 13 days. Sharma could have created a condusive atmosphere for the Congress and allies to form the government, but he did not.

In 1998, President K.R. Narayanan, another Congressman, set a healthy precedent when he refused to go by Sharma's single largest party principle and directed Vajpayee to prove he had the majority before being sworn in. In 13 months the Vajpayee government fell with Jayalalitha pulling the rug leading to a phase of instability, when President Narayanan dissolved the Parliament and ordered fresh elections to prevent horse trading and instability.

There is some criticism that the BJP has replaced a statesman like Pranab Mukkerjee with a non-descript Kovind, but let us not forget that the Congress had preferred somebody like Pratiba Patil over Abdul Kalam, who had come to be known as the people's President. And if one has a good memory, you will remember President Ghani Zail Singh who publicly announced he would sweep the floor of Rashtrapathi Bhavan if asked to do so by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

A majority of Presidents of India have proved that they are capable of rising above the party that they hitherto represented and let us hope Kovind follows this precedent.