Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Call it the triumph of 8216;realism8217; over 8216;romanticism8217; or whatever, but the belated decision of the Congress to support the candidature of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam indicates a lack of political savvy. The party had five long years to choose a nominee for the president8217;s post, which it knew will fall vacant in July. Although the incumbent president, K.R. Narayanan, had made it known that he was available for a second term only if there was a consensus on his candidature among all the mainstream parties, the Congress did not think of an alternative name. It caused considerable embarrassment to Narayanan when his name was dragged into a controversy, mainly to scuttle the chances of the BJP8217;s first preference and Maharashtra governor, P.C. Alexander.
Had the Congress promptly welcomed the nomination of Kalam and extended him support, it could even have taken credit for his victory which is almost certain. After all, Kalam is a product of the Congress era and it was R. Venkataraman, as the then defence minister, who had entrusted him with the task of developing an indigenous missile technology. Instead, it spent two days mulling over his name before finally deciding to lend him support. In the end, the Congress is a net loser. In the process, it ended up antagonising the Left, which has remained one of its steadfast allies. The Left never approved of Kalam8217;s candidature for two reasons 8212; he was a BJP nominee and he did not deserve the nomination as he was never in public life and had no exposure to the working of the Constitution. That the Left has fielded Captain Lakshmi Sehgal of INA fame as presidential candidate against Kalam now symbolises the strained relations between the Congress and the Left parties.
