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Journalism of Courage
Wracked by controversy until yesterday, the Presidential polls now seemed to be moving towards a consensus as the NDA proposed former Scientific Advisor and ‘‘missile man’’ A P J Abdul Kalam as its candidate.
In Chennai this evening, Kalam, a key member of the team of scientists who conducted Pokharan II, sent word via a spokesman that he was happy at being selected and had accepted the offer ‘‘from New Delhi.’’ He would meet the media for a ‘‘detailed interaction’’ tomorrow, it was announced.
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Left has one question
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New Delhi: Is a nuclear scientist qualified for the president’s post, was what smaller parties in the Left Front were asking this evening. ‘‘Rashtrapati Bhavan should be occupied by a person who knows the constitution and the polity,’’ said CPI leader Shamim Faizi. |
The consensus around Kalam’s name, the initiative for which was taken by Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, emerged just when it looked that a contest for the country’s topmost Constitutional job was becoming inevitable.
Kalam has in the process edged out the other names that were doing the rounds—Maharashtra Governor P C Alexander, Vice-President Krishan Kant and incumbent President K R Narayanan himself.
The NDA announced Kalam’s name this evening after a meeting of its co-ordination committee which was preceded by hectic consultations by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee with the coalition leaders as well as those of the Opposition including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her Samajwadi Party counterpart Mulayam Singh Yadav. He also met with Naidu who arrived in Delhi this evening and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati.
The Congress seemed to be caught unawares by the sudden development and faces the twin dilemma: how to let go of Narayanan ‘‘gracefully’’ after pitching for him for days and how to put the sword back in the sheath without appearing to lose face.
These two reasons today stopped the main Opposition party from officially announcing it’s support to Kalam. Party sources, however, say that they are left with no option but to put their seal of approval on Kalam. Also, it is politically difficult for it to reject him given his credentials as a scientist and the fact that he is a Muslim.
A section of the Congress, though, is claiming victory for effectively making making the government abandon its earlier nominee P C Alexander. Party spokesman S.Jaipal Reddy remarked: ‘‘We consider (the pulling back of Alexander) as a positive, outstanding achievement.’’
With both the Samajwadi Party and the CPI(M), the two main constituents of the People’s Front, backing Kalam, the Congress is now looking to Narayanan to bail it out.
For the record, though, senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh denied that they had ‘‘dumped’’ Narayanan. Some Congress leaders met Narayanan after Vajpayee informed Sonia Gandhi of the NDA’s choice of Kalam.
The other main Opposition party, the SP, was gloating that it was during Mulayam’s tenure as Defence Minister that the then United Front government recommended Kalam for being awarded the country’s highest civilian honour.
Though it is a fact however that it was Mulayam who first publicly mentioned Kalam’s name for President, the SP too withheld its official comment.
The Left parties while reserving their official reaction did not object to Kalam either. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechuri spoke highly of Kalam though with a caveat that it was to be considered whether he could do justice to the constitutional post.
Naidu, who favoured Kant’s elevation initially if a consensus was possible despite his protestations to the contrary, played a crucial role in getting the Prime Minister to go in for Kalam. After a telephonic conversation with Vajpayee yesterday, it was he who first sounded out Kalam. He also spoke to him this morning and secured his informal consent.
Naidu also rang up AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha who also agreed to go along with Kalam’s choice. It was after all this that Vajpayee spoke to Kalam yesterday night after which he started talking to the leaders of various NDA and Opposition parties.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan who was sent by Vajpayee to Hyderabad discussed the issue with Naidu. Mahajan later left for Mumbai where he secured the approval of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for Kalam.
Thackeray, who had earlier backed Alexander also, is said to have remarked that it would not make a difference to him because ‘‘one is a Christian and the other is a Muslim.’’
Mahajan also called on Alexander to inform him of the inability of the NDA to make him the candidate.
