For over a
month now, the tussle over the presidential election is going on. Long-time
friends have turned foes & allies are pitted against each other. Despite
the fact that most of the parties claim that they want the election to be
consensus based and above political ‘tauntocracy’, each one of them is trying
their fullest to gain political mileage from these elections. This has even led
to loyalty differences within a party. An example of this is the candidature of
P A Sangma who quit his party Nationalist Congress Party which is an all-weather
ally of the Indian National Congress. He has now become a strong contender
against his good old friend Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA nominee. On the other
hand, parties like JD – (U), DMK and Trinamool Congress are waiting for the
tide to turn in a particular direction to jump into the winning bandwagon.
The two
major alliances, UPA and NDA, competing to be in power in the Centre are using
this election as the preparing ground for the 2014 parliamentary elections. In
this case the nomination of candidates assumes more importance as it can become
either a precursor for the forging of new alliances. On the other hand, the
nomination of a particular candidate can prove to be the alliance breaker. The
best example of this is the opposition of the UPA candidate, Pranab Mukherjee,
by the all-important partner in UPA – the Trinamool Congress. The presidential
election may, well, be termed as indicator of the mood of the various parties
before the 2014 parliamentary elections.
In the
midst of all this, the election to the post of Vice President has also gained
momentum with various contenders springing up for this post. The Vice
President’s election which would earlier be done by consensus has now gained
ground as a battle of Prestige and Honour for the different parties with each
party trying to present such candidates which would prove their ‘inclusive’ and
‘secular’ image. The ruling coalition is most likely to nominate someone from
the, supposedly, unrepresented sections of the population. But what remains to
be seen is what really would the Vice President from the ‘unrepresented’ section
of the population do good to them. The examples of previous Vice Presidents
stare in anguish at those who claim to do good to these sections by electing a
President or a Vice President from them. Mohammad Hamid Ansari (the incumbent),
Prof. Saifuddin Soz, Dr. Farooq Abdullah & J M Lyngdoh (former Chief
Election Commissioner) are some of the names doing rounds.
Talking
about the Kashmiri Muslim perspective to this election, even if India does get
to have a Kashmiri Muslim Vice President, I don’t think it would be of any
immense good to the people of this state in particular although it may help the
Centre to project a ‘secular’ and ‘inclusive’ image of itself in the
international community. The post of the President in a parliamentary democracy
like India is largely a ceremonial one and no concrete decision making power
lies in the hands of the president, except for approving (formally) what has
already been approved by the two houses of the Parliament. While observing the
political hopscotch, one can clearly see the handicap of the president in
taking any concrete decision on his own. Talk of the Vice President; he is way
behind the President in this respect except that he can adjourn the Rajya Sabha
in his own capacity for a particular time if he deems it fit. Even the Rajya
Sabha is most of the times presided over by the Deputy Chairman (in absence of
the Vice President). In my opinion, it would be better to have a powerful and
important portfolio in the Central cabinet for a Local Politician than a post,
the incumbent of which is meant for Ceremonial Foreign tours, Ceremonial
receptions of foreign heads & laying of floral wreaths at Raj Gath or other
Samadhis!
