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Race to Rashtrapati Bhawan FOR evidence that there
may, after all, be some virtue in dynastic succession, monarchists
need look no further than the muddle India is making of choosing its
president. The Indian job is largely titular but, like the British
monarchy, carries clout when an election produces a hung parliament
and the president chooses whom to invite to form a government.
For that reason, governments try to ensure that a new incumbent is
on their side, or at least is not an opponent. The current president
is Abdul Kalam, 75, a former top government defence and space
scientist. With his eccentric floppy hair style, he has managed to
demystify the job and appeal to India's young people. From a poor
Muslim background, he was a neat choice in 2002 for the government,
then led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But
the current Congress-led coalition did not want him for another
term.
The president is indirectly elected for a five-year term by members
of parliament and of state assemblies. It is customary for the
ruling party to make its choice, and then to try to achieve a
consensus. But Sonia Gandhi, who heads the coalition, as usual
failed to give a lead and half a dozen or so names were in the air.
One was that of Pranab Mukherjee, the foreign minister, but he was
too useful as a politically astute deputy to Manmohan Singh, the
prime minister. Shivraj Patil, the home minister, was seen as
ineffectual by some coalition partners and blindly loyal to Mrs
Gandhi by others. The BJP favoured Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the
vice-president, but the government opposed him.
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