On 16th May 2007 we started a poll requesting our readers to vote for their choice for the upcoming Presidential elections in India. The participation was substantial and we got 212 votes during the 15 days the poll was active at the blog. I heartily thank all the readers who participated in the poll. The result is along the expected lines. Incumbent President APJ Abdul Kalam was the overwhelming favorite of the voters netting 54% of the total votes cast. Founder of Infosy, NR Narayanmurthy was a distant second with 24 votes which is around 11% of the total votes. Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee and current Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat were tied for the third place with 13 votes each.
Indian President is not directly elected by the citizens but through their elected representatives. Each Member of Parliament (MP) of Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House) has 708. For Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) this calculation is based upon the number of voters they are representing in their respective states. Since Uttar Pradesh (UP) has the largest population, each MLA from UP has 208 votes followed by Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu with 176 votes each. Haryana MLAs have the lowest number of votes at 112. A complete list of number of votes for each state is available at NDTV.
APJ Abdul Kalam has been the favorite candidate of the masses in every opinion poll conducted on the issue. He gave a new dimension to the post of President in India which was largely seen as ceremonial in the past. He worked with two different governments and has maintained cordial relations with all the parties. More importantly, he went to the Indian citizens directly, especially the children and inspired them to dream and act for the development of the country. His books, especially his autobiography Wings of Fire, have been best-sellers. Despite all this, it is highly unlikely that he will be re-elected. To start with, there is not a precedent for re-election of Presidents except in the case of Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Then, it seems, he is not much interested in continuing for five more years at the same post. According to reports, he has put a condition that his election should be unaminous which seems impossible at the time. Also, as Vir Sanghvi pointed out in one of his recent columns in Hindustan Times, qualifications do not matter as much as electability and other considerations do for the Presidential election.
Take the last presidential election. The BJP had a perfectly acceptable candidate in the form of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who was keen to get the job. But the party was so eager to prove that it was a friend of the minorities that it chose PC Alexander. (Another cynical calculation influenced the choice of Alexander: you couldn’t have a Christian President and a Christian Prime Minister, so some genius at BJP headquarters imagined he was damning Sonia Gandhi’s prospects.)
When the Alexander candidacy collapsed, the BJP scurried around, searching for another non-Hindu to demonstrate its secular credentials. It settled on Abdul Kalam who at least had the virtue of seeming like a good candidate on paper. Moreover, said BJP strategists, no political party could oppose a Muslim without seeming communal. [HT]
With the victory of Bahujan Samajwadi Party in the recent UP elections, it has given Mayawati more leeway in influencing the election of the President. As of now, consensus seems elusive for the post and as it happened in 2002, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a President not in the list of potential candidates of our poll.
I leave you with a question: when will we have a woman President in India?
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Many a times we have seen that individual’s charisma and their way of functioning has brought significant changes in the thinking of the masses. The post of election commissioner was thought to be the coterie post of the governments but TN sheshan has changed that thought completely by his actions and functioning, The recent Assembly elections held in UP is a reflection of what TN Sheshan has injected in the post of Election Commissioner, No parties can now take the Election Commission for granted, they have emerged to be the strongest and above any party, thanks to TN Sheshan for that.
Before APJ Abdul Kalaam , the post of president was also supposed to be a dummy post with no powers but Today there is a significant change in that thinking, The President has given new dimensions to this post by his deeds and thoughts and there is no surprise that the majority of the people are looking forward to see him as the President of our beloved country again.
The only unfortunate part is that every political party is involved in having its candidate at that coveted yet unimportant post and for them their own interest are much above than the interest of the country & that is harming the interest of our nation more than anything else.
Mr President is right that he should be supported unanimously for the second time otherwsie he will not serve it again.
Let a good sense prevail among the political parties and for one time at least they think above their own profits and elect this charismatic leader to be the President once again, it will be the greatest tribute to the nation from their side.
As far as Woman President is concerned, I dont think that presently we have any such woman candidate who possess the requsite qualities to be the president.
@ Zartab bhai
Thanks for the mail.
I totally agree about TN Sheshan. I give our political parties the credit of not unduly interfering with Election Commission’s job.
Also, lack of qualified women for the post of President gives us some indication of the sorry state of affairs of Indian polity.
Narayan Murti
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I vote for Hon’ble President APJ Kalam for second term
Hon’ble President APJ Kalam should be elected for a second term when we are about to get a president who claims talking to ghosts while she sleeps because of influance of brahmakumari when she visited mount abu for few hours. Few hours of stay at ashram influance her thoughts, how she will perform at her post as a first person of country of 1 billion people. How she will manage beteween thousands of politician ghosts. We definitelly need to think about that when we had a great president like Dr. Kalam who is a scientist and whose thoughts changed millions around world, whose dream of take india to next century with prosperity and prestige. We are about to take a U turn to 19th century of dis-belief.