The Official Head of the State, who's next?

The biggest debate at the moment is who will e the next President of India. A question that Dr. Rajendra Prasad would never have dreamed would be the hot topic for all kinds of opinion polls and debate shows. But the question is not who would be the next President but whether he would be someone with a political background or not.

For those who are not aware the President is elected by people's representatives. Simply putting it all members of the lower and upper houses of all the states as well as Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha vote to elect the President. The candidates well they are the candidates that are backed by political parties. So they not only choose the candidates but also elect the one they feel is best suited for the job.

Currently the people who are the biggest candidates (as in accordance to the various news channels) are namely:

1. Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam
2. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
3. Somnath Chatterjee
4. A K Antony
5. Narayan Murthy (though not really)
6. Amartya Sen (similar as above)

A little details about the various candidates.

Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, the person presently holding the post. Ideally the best man for the job and also the least likely to be elected (though I can bet that he may not even be put up as a candidate). An eminent scientist and probably the wisest of all the mentioned candidates. But sensing the atmosphere and being disgruntled over his hands being tied by the government during his tenure, he may simply just bow out of the office without even trying his luck at the office for a second term.

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the present Vice-President and an ex-BJP politician. He would like to continue the trend of Vice-Presidents converting into Presidents as in the past. Although an ex-BJP politician, has little chances of being the candidate of the BJP, who would like to back Abdul Kalam if he is interested. But Congress may agree to back him as their candidate.

Somnath Chatterjee, the present speaker of the Lok Sabha, he follows a popular following by various politicians and would probably be the choice candidate of Congress, if it doesnot back Shekhawat.

A K Antony, the current defence minister. Has just come on the national scene as a minister and has slim chances of being even proposed as a candidate. His "clean" image is probably his biggest USP.

Narayan Murthy, the ex-CEO of Infosys. A person that the Indian middle class idolises and is probably the person responsible for internationalising Bangalore. His recent stints and outspokenness against the government shows his interest towards the post i.e. he wants to be popular now.

Dr. Amartya Sen, a nobel laureate and an economist at par. But would not be interested for the job.

But whatever be the choiced candidate of the governement or the opposition, the government has surely learnt one thing amd i.e. not to let a person without any political leanings to the office. Taking the example of our present President, he defied all limits that previous Presidents had set. Kalam has had his set of confrontations eith the government but due to the limitations of the powers of the post has not been able to make much difference. But his activeness to make a difference is a lesson that should be learnt from.

He had defied the government and the system on various occasions by being an example. Seeing this the government has learnt its lesson and will try to curb such a situation in the future by not electing a "wise" President. But with him leaving the post the situation will again go back to what it was earlier.

The problem is that even though people try to set an example, a very few people learn from it. President Kalam had on many occasions sent out message to the general public through his speeches, his books etc. But the outcome I am not sure that there will be any. People will do their own jobs when he moves out of the office and some puppet of the government takes his place. The fact remains that people will not do anything to change the situation.

A CPI(M) M.P. vividly told a TV show host that who will bw the next President will be ours (the people in power) decision and nothing will change with you holding opinion polls and people sending SMSs to show their choice. He is right in a way. It is the fault of us, the urban middle class. We don't exercise our right to vote and worse we donot want to enter politics to make a change. The usual reply is that politics is a sewer, but my question is who is responsible in creation of this sewer. It is us. Not only we donot except our mistakes we keep on repeating it. Change doesnot happen on its own. If you can't change yourself please donot complain about the system, for the system is because of you and not the other way round.

Jai Hind!