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Pratibha Patil as President : Left has its way |
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B.I. Saini
The surprise choice of Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil as the nominee of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for the post of President brings out how coalitions work. Different constituents of the UPA and the Left parties supporting the ruling coalition from outside had their own agendas, which they pushed aggressively, resulting in Pratibha Patil being pitch-forked for into the Presidential race, even though she was not on any political party’s list of possible candidates initially.
The Congress, the leading light of the UPA coalition, had its point of view very clear, the person who occupies Rashtrapati Bhavan after Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, should be from the party, and additionally, should be somebody who the Nehru-Gandhi family could depend upon. “Loyalty was the name of the Game”, so far as the Congress was concerned. The Congress worked on other constituents of the UPA to bring them round to accept a `loyal’ Congressman as the next occupant of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Some parties, like Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, readily accepted the Congress demand or request to virtually nominate the UPA nominee for the Presidentship. In the case of parties like Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and M. Karunanidhi’s DMK, the Congress had to put on the charm and accept their demands in other spheres to bring them round. In pleasing Karunanidhi, the Centre’s sidelining of former Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran, when he fell foul of the reigning dynasty in Tamil Nadu, may have helped quite a bit.
The Congress was also able to get the ‘unconditional’ support of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, which has about 60,000 votes in the electoral college for the presidentship, perhaps in return for the State Governor not according sanction to the CBI for the prosecution of the BSP supremo in the Taj Corridor scam.
The Left parties had made it clear at the initial stage that the UPA nominee for the Presidentship must be a political person of eminence whose secular credentials could not be questioned. The Congress, during discussions with the Left parties, appears to have originally put forward the names of Pranab Mukherjee, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Dr. Karan Singh. When the Left parties publicly plumped for Pranab Mukherjee, there appears to have been second thinking in the Congress, as elements in the party did not consider him high on the quotient of ‘loyalty.’ It was then that the party put forward the name of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. But the Left was not agreeable as it considered that he had been soft on the saffronite camp during his previous tenure as Speaker of the Lok Sabha and even while he was the Union Home Minister.
Faced with opposition from the Left parties to the plan to make Shivraj Patil the UPA nominee for the Presidency, the Congress enlisted the services of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief Karunanidhi to mediate with the Left so that an agreement could be reached on the UPA-Left nominee for the country’s highest post.
At the protracted negotiations in New Delhi last week, the Left parties dug in their heels and refused to accept the Congress plea for helping Shivraj Patil go from North Block to Rashtrapati Bhavan. In a case of the tail effectively wagging the dog, the combined pressure of the Left parties and the DMK made the Congress give up its list of candidates, which now included Sushil Kumar Shinde and Dr. Karan Singh apart from Shivraj Patil in favour of a woman Rajput candidate, Pratibha Patil, who was not in the reckoning at all earlier.
The Left may now be patting itself on the back for having its way to a substantial degree on the question of selection of the next President of India. But it failed to ensure the nomination of Pranab Mukherjee, who was its preferred choice. On the other hand, the Congress has reason to be happy, as its first criteria for the next President, ‘loyalty’ to the Nehru-Gandhi family has been met. Pratibha Patil has been close to the family right from the days of Indira Gandhi.
But the Congress need not be too upbeat about Pratibha Patil’s choice. Once in Rashtrapati Bhavan, even loyalist incumbents like late Giani Zail Singh, developed their own line of thinking on crucial issues of governance and did not necessarily toe the ruling party or coalition’s line. Pratibha Patil has the reputation of being a tough, no-nonsense woman politician, which she displayed in ample measure during her days in Maharashtra when she took on the likes of Sharad Pawar, both inside and outside the Congress party. She has already stated that she would not be a”Rubber stamp President.” In her words, “I have never been a rubber-stamp Governor, and there is no reason why I should be a rubber-stamp President. I have my own independent thinking.”
With the support of the UPA, the Left parties and other parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party, Pratibha Patil should have an easy ride to Rashtrapati Bhavan. One complicating factor, however, is Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s plan to fight the election as an independent candidate in an effort to win the support of the eight-party Third Front, in addition to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is likely to sponsor his presidential venture. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, even if the Third Front comes out in his support, has no chance of making it to Rashtrapati Bhavan without cross-voting, a situation where individual MPs and legislators vote against the party line. This would be a sad situation where a Presidential candidate hopes to get elected by inducing defections, in a way. The Congress and the Left parties have appealed for all party support for Pratibha Patil and it would be in the fitness of things if Vice President Shekhawat thinks deeply and opts out the contest.
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