Cover story THE PRESIDENCY VACANCY AT RAISINA HILL Narayanan thinks he’s fit for another term in Rashtrapati Bhavan. A fellow Malayali, not to speak of some half a dozen other aspiring presidents, may have other ideas.

■ by Lakshmi IYER President’s power to swear in the man he President Rajendra Prasad’s achieve- feels is most deserving of the prime min- ment—a host of other names are also N JULY 24, 2002, ister’s job is broad. He can set his own doing the rounds. Among them is former Kocheril Raman Naraya- precedents and, in theory, make just prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, re- nan will lay down office about anyone the head of government. cently acquitted in the JMM bribery case. as the 11th President of So who will India’s 12th President be? But a close aide, Bhuvnesh Chaturvedi, India. Sixty days before The early list of candidates is marked as denies Rao is in the running. “His name that the Election Com- much by eminence as by familiarity. is only in the media,” he says. missionO will initiate an elaborate Many of the names have been heard in K.C. Pant, Planning Commission process to elect his successor. The earlier presidential poll years. P.C. Alex- deputy chairman and as stodgy and process will involve an electoral college ander is the governor of Maharashtra non-contentious a customer as can be, of 776 MPs and 4,120 members of and served as a civil servant. L.M. Singhvi has had his hat thrown into the ring. A Legislative Assemblies spread across 30 is a Rajya Sabha member who used to be former Congressman—and therefore states (see graphic). Voting itself will high commissioner to the UK. presumably not unacceptable to Sonia take place in the second week of July. At various times Karan Singh has Gandhi’s party—Pant is trusted by India’s main political parties been ambassador and Union minister, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, have not begun serious discussions on philosopher and politician. By his own who has appointed him special inter- who the next President should be. Nev- reckoning, he has been the man most locutor in Jammu and Kashmir. ertheless the grapevine in Delhi has been deserving of Rashtrapati Bhavan for at The virtues of a consensus are duti- busy identifying potential candidates for least 20 years now. Jyoti Basu, former fully acknowledged by almost all politi- the largely ceremonial yet crucial office. chief minister of West Bengal, is the cal groups. Says a BJP Union minister, In an era of fragmented mandates diehard communist’s candidate for prime “The President’s election is not strictly and coalition governments, all parties minister and, failing that, president. a matter of numbers. It is a constitu- see it prudent to have a man at Raisina In addition to these regulars and the tional office in which there is not much Hill who is friendly or, at best, non- incumbent Narayanan—who, if he gets politics. There should be a consensus.” antagonistic. In a hung Lok Sabha, the a second term, will match the first Indian Noble thoughts notwithstanding, politicians and pundits are punching away at their calculators, trying to make sense of electoral college arith- metic. If a contest does take place, it will K.R.Narayanan, 81 be the keenest battle for the presidency If the President wins a second term, his will be the first re-election since 1957 since 1969, when V.V. Giri defeated K. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy thanks to FOR: Biggest backers are the left AGAINST: Fairly unpopular with the second preference votes (see box). parties who consider him a fellow tra- BJP and the rest of NDA for being an The 1969 race eventually split the veller and the next best thing to Jyoti antagonistic president. Public state- Congress. This year’s battle may only break hearts and shatter cherished Basu. May win support from Vajpayee ments that could be interpreted as dreams. For Alexander, 81, this is the in case the prime minister wants to anti-Government and his decision to last realistic attempt. He missed the bus prevent a contentious election. Sonia vote in 1998 haven’t made him popular in 1997 when the Congress and the and Congress would prefer him too. He with the ruling alliance. Parties like United Front preferred Malayali Dalit was supportive of her in March 1999. the TDP openly talk about his health. Narayanan to Malayali Christian Alexander. At 79, former law minister Ram Jethmalani is in the same boat. He Can only win as a consensus candidate. Agreeing to him was a candidate in 1992 but got only

UPSHOT would imply a grudging choice for the Government. 2,704 votes. Singhvi, Karan Singh and Najma PRAMOD PUSHKARNA Cover story THE PRESIDENCY

PRAMOD PUSHKARNA President’s duties are merely ceremo- POMP WITHOUT POWER: The Indian nial, with minimum paper work. On a President reigns but does not rule typical day, the President clears a few The President lives ... files, but meets between 50 and 100 visitors. They could be ordinary peo- ple in which case appointments are ... in a 345-room palace set in the midst of a 400-acre garden, sought and given. Or visiting heads of states or heads of governments, in which case the President plays the with a golf course, squash and tennis courts and two theatres. perfect host, laying out sumptuous banquets for the visitors. The rush of His staff includes 350 officers, over 200 household helps, 165 VVIP visitors from abroad is particu- larly heavy during the winter months and there are times when every week gardeners, 150 sanitary workers, 30 butlers and 15 cooks. sees a new guest staying at the Dwaraka Suite of the Nalanda or Mysore rooms. OR SHEER SIZE AND tle hints about wanting to stay on. 1,000 guests can be cooked at a time, The upkeep of such trappings does grandeur, there are few resi- Though only one, India’s first Presi- a laundry and even a barber shop. not come cheap. The 2001-2 budget dences anywhere in the world dent Rajendra Prasad, ever got to stay To keep such an establishment for Rashtrapati Bhavan is approxi- Fthat can match the Rashtrapati there for two consecutive terms. running calls for an overdose of hands mately Rs 9 crore, up from Rs 99 lakh Bhavan. Even a head of state’s resi- It is easy to understand why no one and Rashtrapati Bhavan has it, pre- in 1981-82. While the budget for the dence. The palace built by Edwin wants to move out. The built-up area sumably with some to spare. The establishment shot up ninefold in 20 Lutyens stands on the top of Raisina of the H-shaped building is approxi- President’s secretariat is 350-strong years, the President’s own salary has Hill in the heart of Delhi. There are mately 4.75 acres and it is surrounded and includes the military and the civil increased only five times in the same more square feet of built-up area in by 400 acres of what is arguably wing. There is also the household staff ware polished, dozens of electricians and the position has in the past been period. It was Rs 10,000 a month two this one residence than would be among the best maintained gardens in which numbers about 220. There are and mechanics to ensure that the referred to as a “post office”. In recent decades ago. Today it is Rs 50,000 per needed for more than a score of plush the country. It has 345 rooms, 37 15 cooks and 30 butlers, 165 garden- chandeliers glow, the air conditioners times though with elections to the Lok month. But nobody’s complaining. apartment complexes. So vast is the large private rooms, a golf course, a ers, 150 sanitary workers, 60 peons keep humming and the fleet of limou- Sabha throwing up hung verdicts, After all, it is the perks that matter. palace and so comfortable is the life swimming pool, squash and tennis who carry mail and papers in and out sines are in shape. Presidents have had occasion to be And these are perks that even Yash- here that successive tenants are courts, two cinema theatres, a school, of the building, silvermen and For all the pomp, there is very lit- assertive, sometimes to the point want Sinha’s budget cannot touch. known to have dropped not-very-sub- a huge kitchen where food for up to masalchis to keep the silver and brass- tle power that the President enjoys of manipulation. Otherwise, the —Ashok K. Damodaran

Heptullah—the Rajya Sabha deputy Alexander will boost the party’s “secu- S. Jaipal Reddy, “is that the presidential chairperson who can, frankly, hope for lar” credentials. “Post 9/11, a Christian candidate must be a person who should little more than a shot at the vice-presi- P.C.Alexander, 81 president will enhance the country’s have a reasonable reputation for being dency (see box)—may have age on their The Maharashtra governor narrowly image,” argues a BJP Union minister. impartial. Someone who does not take side but that will hardly be a consolation. “Alexander is a candidate the Congress all the powers enjoined by the Consti- missed being Congress nominee in 1997 Some of the candidates have been lob- will find hard to reject. A Christian can- tution as seriously as Zail Singh did.” bying for at least six months, working on didate will be acceptable to our allies.” A section of the Congress is backing the electors, chatting up party bosses, FOR: The BJP’s keen on him because Also high on Vajpayee’s list is Karan Singh because “he has accept- meeting chief ministers and hosting din- he’s a Christian and it thinks this will Singhvi. Appointed high commissioner ability even among the NDA”. The former ners whether at home or at Delhi’s India go down well in terms of image. As Ma- to London by Narasimha Rao’s Congress Dogra royal is banking on the support of International Centre or elsewhere. harashtra governor, he had no problems government, Singhvi came back to India the Samata Party and the Bahujan More than being personality-driven with the Shiv Sena-BJP government only to be sent to Parliament by the BJP in Samaj Party and is hoping the BJP will though, the election of the next Presi- (1994-99) and batted correctly even 1998. A constitutional expert, Singhvi forget he stood against Vajpayee in Luc- dent will be a ferociously fought political when the Srikrishna Commission report has good equations with everybody from know during the 1999 general elections. event. It will put the tenuous National on the 1993 riots came in. Sonia to Vajpayee to influential NRIs—he Even so, Singh’s soft Hindutva ap- Democratic Alliance on test once again. presided over the infamous boat party on proach to life may not win him friends In the India of old, the prime minister the Thames organised by the Hindujas among the left parties and the Samaj- used to in effect appoint the President. In AGAINST: He was principal secretary for a parliamentary team in 1995. At wadi Party. “If the Congress fields Karan 1982, Indira Gandhi plucked Giani Zail in Indira Gandhi’s PMO. But that he’s a present, all he’s willing to say is, “I’ll be a Singh, for the sake of secular unity we Singh out of the Home Ministry and Christian could upset Sonia’s chances candidate if the NDA sponsors me.” will support him,” admits Amar Singh. placed him in Rashtrapati Bhavan. The of becoming prime minister in case The rest is left unstated. The man who self-declared rubber stamp happily pro- he’s president. Hence Congress N its part, the Congress has spent 53 years in public—Karan claimed that he would sweep the floor if doubts. Also can Kerala get the presi- hasn’t revealed more than Singh became regent of Jammu and his leader asked him to. dency for the second successive time? half its cards. There is a per- Kashmir at 18—allows himself just Vajpayee has no Indira-type luxury. ception that Alexander as cryptic sentences. “I am a candidate only His ability to get his choice accepted will President may not be suit- if the Congress fields me,” adding for depend on his political acumen and ableO for Sonia’s eventual move to 7 Race good measure, “I have a lot of goodwill.” At present Alexander is the persuasive skills. The BJP is known to be Course Road. After all, a Christian Actually, the presidential election keen on Alexander, who is in the good frontrunner. Could become President as well as a Christian prime was a bit of a phoney war till even a fort- books of even the Shiv Sena. The UPSHOT first Christian president. minister may not be politically correct. night ago. A second term for Narayanan saffron logic is that plumping for “All we want,” says party spokesman seemed a likely conclusion. As early as Cover story THE PRESIDENCY SIPRA DAS the summer of 2001, the late Mad- THE POLITICAL ARITHMETIC ...... AND ITS PROBABLE IMPACT havrao Scindia sounded out Narayanan K.C.Pant, 70 who apparently said he was not confi- SCENARIO 1 dent about his health. Earlier this year, BJP+Allies with CONG+Allies with If TDP, ADMK, BSP and NCP Planning panel deputy chief brings in Sonia sent K. Natwar Singh for another 439 MPs & 1,680 MLAs 332 MPs & 2,429 MLAs vote with NDA, it will lead by the north Indian Brahmin quotient meeting in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Pre- 85,617 over the Congress sumably more confident of his health Votes Votes now, Narayanan indicated his interest and allies. The NDA wins. FOR: No known enemies, BJP 2,60,696 CONGRESS+Allies 2,69,784 lineage (he’s Govind Ballabh in being a consensus candidate. SCENARIO 2 Pant’s son). Was a Congress de- Till March 26—the day the joint ses- sion of Parliament voted on the Preven- If the TDP, Left and Samaj- fence minister before moving to REST OF NDA 1,56,701 SAMAJWADI PARTY 55,135 tion of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO)— the BJP and, eventually, wadi put up a third candi- the BJP would have played ball. Neither date, the contest will go to becoming Vajpayee’s envoy to TDP+TRINAMOOL 73,202 the Congress-led Opposition nor the BJP- RJD 33,033 second preference votes. the Kashmiri militant groups. led NDA was confident of being able to Outcome uncertain, but Since the presidency usually elect their candidates in a clear contest. NDA+Allies 4,90,599 OTHERS 35,027 advantage NDA. alternates between north and The passage of POTO by 426 votes to 296 south, he’s being talked about. gave the NDA new ideas. The accretion in SCENARIO 3 its support courtesy the AIADMK’s 17 MPs and the Nationalist Congress AIADMK 45,880 LEFT PARTIES 85,563 If ADMK, NCP and BSP vote AGAINST: Is dour, stodgy and a Party’s (NCP’s) nine was a boost. Trans- along with Congress+allies, political lightweight. There’s no lated into electoral college strength, the NCP 17,246 INDEPENDENTS 25,683 they will be 99,244 votes compelling reason why he should result gave the NDA a clear edge of ahead of NDA. Congress wins. be India’s president. Also can a 49,500 votes (see box). Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel of NCP NDA+Allies+friends 5,53,725 SCENARIO 4 northern Brahmin prime minister Total CONGRESS 5,04,225 back a caste cousin? May be a cautions the NDA not to take his party for If the BSP abstains, the NDA granted, “The POTO vote has nothing to +Allies+Friends trifle politically injudicious. BSP 36,117 will still be ahead of the do with any political alliance with the These figures assume the constitution of the Congress and its allies by BJP.” Even so, the BJP is upbeat. “If Uttar Pradesh Assembly; the Goa Assembly 49,500 votes with 5,53,725 Narayanan asks for a second term,” Total NDA+Allies+ 5,89,842 has not been taken into account. votes. NDA wins. Nobody opposes him. Equally, nobody really wants him. says a ruling party leader, “he can have Value of an MP’s vote is 708, that of an MLA All friendly parties UPSHOT Safe and stodgy, he could be the proverbial dark horse. it. Otherwise if we have a majority we varies from state to state. must have a more amenable President. Graphics by PINAKI by Graphics Cover story THE PRESIDENCY

That’s what everyone in the NDA wants. Narayanan has not been very coopera- tive.” Even Telugu Desam Party MPs speak of the need for a President who Battle for the Bridesmaid doesn’t seem infirm. Despite his party’s anxieties— Narayanan is anything but sympathetic The NDA and its allies enjoy a majority in Parliament, so to the BJP’s politics—Vajpayee is at one level not averse to giving the President another five years. He has dropped hints they will be able to elect a vice-president of their choice. in one-to-one interactions and, sources say, probably sees this as keeping with But they may eventually strike a quid pro quo deal with the his Nehruvian self-image. Jawaharlal Nehru was ideologically closer to Nara- yanan’s London School of Economics Congress for support to their presidential nominee. guru Harold Laski and not quite com- fortable with Rajendra Prasad, the or- PRAMOD PUSHKARNA SHARAD SAXENA SAIBAL DAS thodox Hindu at Raisina Hill. Yet he gave “Rajen Babu” a second term in 1957.

N the first half of the budget ses- sion of Parliament, Narayanan was under scrutiny. Every move, P.V. Narasimha physical or procedural, was keenly interpreted. His candida- Iture took a beating when he was helped Rao, 81 to his seat in Central Hall. Samajwadi Party and Left Front leaders were miffed when he didn’t meet a team that had If elected the former prime minister will be the first of his tribe to be president. just returned from Gujarat. “He refused to see us because he was too ill,” says a FOR: Freed of taint because he’s AGAINST: Sonia, his own party Samajwadi functionary. been acquitted in the JMM bribery chief, doesn’t trust him. The badshah The Congress, Narayanan’s origi- scandal. Erudite man, deft prime of intrigue could leave the whole po- nal proposer, is not without second minister. If Congress picks him, it litical class guessing if a hung Lok thoughts either. “Within an hour of re- could score a symbolic point over Sabha results while he’s president. KEEN CONTEST: Abdullah (left) is banking on NDA; Congress’ Heptullah (centre) and Mukherjee are hoping for a deal with the BJP ceiving the joint sitting proposal (for the BJP. Rao, after all, is the BJP’s Muslim antipathy: he was prime POTO) from the Parliamentary Affairs favourite Congressman. minister when the Babri Masjid fell. HE OFFICE OF THE VICE- first Rajya Sabha chairman to preside tion and bargaining for the vice-pres- Ministry, Narayanan signed and re- BHAWAN SINGH BHAWAN president is usually seen as a over the House beyond the Question idency. A second term for Narayanan turned the file,” points out an AICC func- stepping stone to the post of Hour have any friends in Parliament. could, however, spoil things. tionary. “He could have delayed it under A Rao presidency is a piquant idea but unlikely. He is president of India. On Aspirants for the vice-presidency The NDA doesn’t mind backing the pretext of consulting the attorney- T UPSHOT admired, but from a distance. Even so, there is a buzz. August 22, 2002, the second citi- include the ubiquitous L.M. Singhvi, Heptullah, who has been deputy general or seeking legal opinion. He zen’s job falls vacant when incum- Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister chairperson of the Rajya Sabha for bent Krishan Kant’s term ends. The Farooq Abdullah and Rajya Sabha the past 15 years. “She is eminently election for vice-president is in- Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptul- qualified,” says a BJP minister, “but evitably linked to the presidential lah. Names of Congress leader the moot point is does her party back L.M.Singhvi, 70 election for the simple reason that Pranab Mukherjee and Bahujan her?” Heptullah’s friends point to the those who don’t make it to Rashtrap- Samaj Party chief Kanshi Ram are symbolic value of choosing her in Jurist who socialised his way into reckoning. ati Bhavan invariably lower their am- also doing the rounds. this the International Year of bition and bid for this office. The vice-president is elected by Women’s Empowerment. FOR: Swatantra Party man in olden times. Barring the first vice-president, both the houses of Parliament and Mukherjee is banking on his ac- High commissioner to the UK in Congress the venerable Sarvepalli Radhakrish- since the NDA has a majority here—as ceptability across party lines. He has times. Rajya Sabha member in BJP times. nan, no vice-president has served evident in the POTO vote—the new served as cabinet minister for seven two terms. He was the copybook face has to necessarily be acceptable years, with portfolios ranging from Friends in all parties at all times. His skills number two for both of Rajendra to the ruling alliance. Ever since Fa- finance to foreign affairs. Says a as a networker are truly extraordinary. Prasad’s presidential terms. That is rooq announced his plans to retire Mukherjee aide: “Before Narayanan, why if President K.R. Narayanan gets from state politics, the BJP has toyed who was only a minister of state in AGAINST: There’s only so far that climb- a second term, Kant’s friends believe with the idea of making him vice- the Rajiv Gandhi government, all ing the right ladders can take you. Singhvi that he too will continue. Unfortu- president. “But our only worry,” con- vice-presidents had been very emi- knows a lot of people but is not a “true” nately, nobody in serious political cir- fides a BJP functionary, “is that he is nent people or cabinet ministers.” Congressman or a “real” BJP man. There’s cles sees such a possibility. too flippant to preside over the Rajya Admirable as Mukherjee’s reasoning a perception that he’s already got more Kant was governor of Andhra Sabha as its chairman.” may be, the fact is his party is public honour than he deserves. Pradesh when close friend and then Congress aspirants Heptullah and nowhere close to dictating terms in a prime minister I.K. Gujral made him Mukherjee have pinned hopes on parliamentary vote. What is most vice-president in 1997. He has no their party striking a deal with the likely is the BJP will help itself to the Not a non-starter but certainly

such patrons today. Neither does the Government in the presidential elec- vice-president’s job. —Lakshmi Iyer UPSHOT a self-starter. Uphill task. DILIP BANERJEE Cover story THE PRESIDENCY SIPRA DAS Split Decision Presidential polls have always been tame affairs with an expected climax. But the 1969 contest was an exception.

HE most keenly and closely fought presidential election in the past 50 years was the fifth one, fought between V.V. Giri and K. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in 1969. So momentous was it that it eventually Tled to a split in the Congress. On the death of President Zakir Hussain, vice-president Giri took over as acting president. He could have been elevated to the presidency but was not acceptable to the Congress’ old guard. As part of their ongoing battle against the then prime minis- ter Indira Gandhi’s policy of bank nationalisation, party bosses led by Congress president S. Nijalingappa fielded Lok Sabha Speaker Reddy as candidate for Rashtrapati Bhavan. Karan Singh, 71 President in waiting for whole decades. FOR: Has Congress backers and his Hinduised political philosophy—he sees himself as a contemporary Aurobindo—could go down well with sections of the BJP too.

AGAINST: The BJP can’t forget that he stood against Vajpayee in the 1999 election. Left and Samajwadi Party are uncomfortable with his “soft Hindutva”. No political base.

He is India’s Al Gore, the REBEL WITH A CAUSE: In 1969, independent candidate Giri (left) defeated the official Congress nominee Reddy with the backing of prime minister Indira Gandhi UPSHOT former next president.

When efforts at a compromise failed, Indira got Giri to resign as vice- didn’t because he was anxious to be in president and contest as an independent candidate. As acting president, he the good books of the BJP.” had signed the bank nationalisation ordinance. As leader of the Congress Rashtrapati Bhavan sources are Parliamentary Party, Indira refused to issue a whip to party MPs to vote for eager to emphasise how fit the party’s official candidate. Instead she sought a “conscience vote”. Bar- Narayanan is for the job. “The Presi- ring the Jana Sangh, Swatantra Party and Charan Singh’s BKD, all major dent is in fine fettle,” says an aide. “At opposition groups too decided to back Giri in the only presidential race that the banquet hosted in honour of became a full-fledged ideological contest. Indonesian President Megawati Giri won 4,01,515 votes against Reddy’s 3,13,548 votes. However, Sukarnoputri, he stood for half an the “rebellious” vice-president failed to win the qualifying quota of first hour delivering a speech.” He ex- preference votes—50 per cent of the total value of votes polled plus one. plains that Narayanan remained Giri got to the mark through second preference votes. seated during his address to Parlia- Eight years later, another mid-term presidential election was neces- ment because of a sprained leg. sitated by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed’s death. This time Reddy be- While a gambler may well put that came the first president to be elected without a contest. Nominations of extra 10 paise on Narayanan, the 36 of the 37 candidates were rejected after scrutiny. Reddy got the joint fact is any of half a dozen people backing of the Janata Party government and the opposition Congress. could become the next President. “We If Reddy’s eventual election was smooth, K.R. Narayanan’s in 1997 was have the numbers,” claims a BJP almost so. He got elected polling 91.4 per cent of the vote, a record in a pres- leader, “but going by past record the idential election. That was possible because the main opposition party, the prime minister may opt for a consen- BJP, did not field a candidate against the first Dalit presidential candidate. sus.” No wonder half his party jokes T.N. Seshan, the Shiv Sena-backed independent candidate, lost his deposit. (and perhaps hopes) that Vajpayee will give himself the job. ■