Mr ya Mrs

A "well contested" presidential elections in India, hasn't it been a while since we have seen one? The office of the President has become a test lab for the political parties of India. The main reason that K.R. Narayanan was the President was to gather the SC/ST vote bank. Next came Mr. Abdul Kalam, through whom the BJP tried to reduce the animosity that the Muslim community in India felt towards them. Now its the turn of Mrs. Pratibha Patil. Here the emphasis is on trying to woo the female vote bank. C'mon UPA, she was in political oblivion from 1996-2004, you pulled her out of nowhere and made her the Governor of Rajasthan and since she listened to your every move, she gets the next big promotion to Presidency? Any chance of thinking of the country's good before your own?

Since the ruling party usually proposes the winning candidate, there is a high probability that Mrs. Pratibha Patil would be the next President of India. If she wouldn't be the perfect rubber stamp President, then I don't know who would be! If looks could tell all the story, she would be succeeding the most popular President India has had, to become the most meekest President India has had. She is being so well protected by the Congress party that anybody but her would do the talking for her. The biggest question the educated people of India would be asking is, "What is wrong with Mr. Kalam?, why can't he continue as the President?". An answer to which, I am sure, the politicians of UPA or NDA would not have. The left over parties, aptly called UNPA i.e. !(UPA+NDA) :-), tried to woo Kalam into the race. Kalam said the most politically naive thing and the people opposing him had a field day. He said he would contest if he is sure of winning. Duh! This is politics, you are not supported by the 2 biggest party coalitions, you stand next to no chance of winning. You had a good run and unfortunately the political masters of India care more for their next elections, than continuing with the best President India has had. Now, the UPA leaders say that this is proof that Kalam is not really apolitical and he has shown his love for the chair. I ask, what is wrong with having the love of the chair? especially when he has done such a commendable job? Does that one statement make him a political guy? By accusing him of showing his political side, are you agreeing that being political obviously means being bad? I anything, I would say the statement shows his patriotism, as he wants the office of the President to not be corrupted by politics and in that regard his credentials beat the other competitors by a long margin. BJP on the other hand seizes this obvious admiration that people have for Kalam and ask the Congress as to why they oppose Kalam so much. Hey BJP, if you love Kalam so much, why field your own candidate? Why not support Kalam? And Mr. Shekhawat, poor guy must have been waiting for this day so bad. The only rubber stamp post more perfect than that of the President is that of the Vice-President! He must have been dreaming of getting the promotion to being "THE" rubber stamp instead of the Assistant rubber stamp.

All in all, another political drama unfolding to culminate in another political fiasco. It would not be too bad to see a lady take up the post though, giving the women of India a boost. But, in Indian politics, there is no other post that is as hypocritically admired and yet disregarded like the Presidential post. If anything, this win by Mrs. Pratibha Patil would put the women trying to earn a break in the male dominated work-socio setup into reverse gear, as this is exactly the attitude that they are trying to fight in their everyday life!

Let the games continue....