Candidate Narayanan 8212; Consensus on Presidency

The next President of the republic is a politically correct choice. A predictable choice as well. In this fiftieth year of Independence, ca...

The next President of the republic is a politically correct choice. A predictable choice as well. In this fiftieth year of Independence, can any political party afford to be petty? Being PC is quite normal in this season.

That is why there is a kind of sacred consensus on Vice-President K. R. Narayanan8217;s candidacy for the country8217;s highest ceremonial office. For Narayanan it is a rare privilege: he, the joint candidate of the Congress and the UF, is certain to be endorsed by the BJP. Privilege because Narayanan has reached this glorious waystation in his life8217;s journey after passing through a long stretch of denials and deprivations. For, it is his social ancestry that has defined Narayanan8217;s post-diplomatic life. Five years ago, when the diplomat-turned-politician was elected Vice-President of India, the paramount considerations were certainly not his impressive CV, not even that much publicised letter of recommendation from Harold Laski.

Those qualifications were only incidental adjectives to the candidate from the scheduled caste. It is not that Narayanan8217;s moderate scholarship and his varied experience in public life do not make him a man worthy enough to be President. It is that he happens to be in a country where consensus is reached, more often than not, only on matters which are politically sacred as well as correct. In this politics of symbolism, Narayanan is a custom-made commodity.

Should the Presidency be such a subject of symbolism? How come that parties with little in common have found in Narayanan a candidate who cannot be fought against? Those questions can be answered only in the language of political incorrectness. In matured democracies, a contest is a manifestation of differing popular choices; and consensus means, with rare exceptions, political exigency8217;s triumph over popular expectation. The consensus on Narayanan exposed the social as well as moral pretence of the mainstream political parties. By condescendingly and unanimously choosing him, they pretend to have upheld the social conscience or the Gandhian conscience? of the nation. Really? All of them are known for not only relegating social justice to the realm of slogans but extracting maximum profit from the market of casteism. The consensus on Narayanan is a dubious consensus.

But the candidate is genuine. For Narayanan, it may be a secret sorrow that his success is subordinated to his caste. It is not his fault. Even fifty years after liberation, it is only through symbols the political parties of India can parade their social obligations. Let Narayanan be an accidental beneficiary of this politically correct deception. But President Narayanan will have an opportunity to keep the Presidency above partisan considerations. He can also turn the consensus 8212; however dishonest it may be 8212; into a mandate of constitutional correctness. In this age of coalition politics, the Presidency cannot afford to be the willing executioner of the ruling party. Caste may have defined Candidate Narayanan. President Narayanan will be defined by his other qualifications 8212; his learning, his experience. He need not be politically correct. Only constitutionally.