What the nation expects

The existence of a noble father figure at the helm of affairs of the nation is something always desired but seldom realised in history in the form of the election of Babu Rajendra Prasad, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Hussain, VV Giri et al. How far our past presidents have fulfilled this objective is a matter of interest to discuss.

The first President
Dr Rajendra Prasad who held office for more than two terms tried to assert that the President can act independently even disregarding the advice of the Council of Ministers. Dr Rajendra Prasad combined in himself knowledge, patience, a sweet temper, a just mind and the capacity to command respect.

He was unanimously elected as the President of the Constitutional Assembly in 1946. He signed the new Constitution on 1949. He was gentle with innate ability and utter simplicity. His sincerity of conviction and earnestness of purpose gave him a moral stature to assert successfully on crucial issues.

When Nehru decided to press for the passage of the Hindu Code in the interim Parliament of 1950-51 to enact a measure of far-reaching importance, Rajendra Prasad boldly and rightly thwarted the move and wanted a mandate from the electorate.

Rajendra Prasad guided the destinies of the country for over 12 years expertly, maintaining correct, though not cordial, relations with the Prime Minister and remained a noble father figure of the nation, winning appreciations from all over the country.

The philosopher
When Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was elected the President of India it was hailed by the West as a contribution of India in behalf of human survival. His election was a matter of envy to the Western countries since they could not realise their own, Platonic, ideal of having a philosopher-ruler.

His international stature as an eminent philosopher brought name and fame to the highest office of the land. It was Nehru’s inward love for philosophy coupled with his undoubted admiration of the stalwart and a man of titanic force that made Radhakrishnan the President of India.

As President of India he took a detached and yet a deep and comprehensive look at the political panorama of the country. Dr S Radhakrishnan strictly adhered to democratic norms and conventions.

When the Chinese attacked the North-Eastern Frontiers, he didn’t hesitate to attribute the retreat of India in the Indo-China war of 1962 to our credulity and negligence. The relations between Radhakrishnan and Nehru were most cordial but differences cropped between them on certain matters.

Radhakrishnan was unafraid of confrontation. “His repeated admonitions, characterised by undiminished vigour, amazing sweep, marshalling of facts and figures, with the maturity of a consummate general in chosen diction, proved to be a shock treatment to erring wielders of power.”

(P Rajeswar Rao in ‘The Great Indian Patriots’, Vol.2, p.90). Radhakrishnan served as a link between the Gandhian concept of Ram Raj and the Nehru’s doctrine of egalitarianism. Radhakrishnan dominated the world scene for decades with the eminence of his intellect, moral fervour and matchless eloquence.

However, his full five year term was not smooth. It was marked by critical events when the country went through the agonising ordeals of the death of two Prime Ministers, two wars and two droughts. Radhakrishnan played a stabilising role through all these turmoils.

He always remained uncontroversial and acted according to the Constitution. Radhakrishnan appointed Gulzari Lal Nanda, the then Home Minister and the senior most Minister as the Acting Prime Minister till the new Prime Minister was elected both times after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Sastry who died in harness.

Dr Zakir Hussain
With all his intellectual eminence and profundity and wisdom, Dr Zakir Hussain played no decisive role as President nor had he occasion to do so. When he was elected the third President there was stable Government at the centre under the Premiership of Indira Gandhi, a commanding leader of international repute. There were no significant events during the short lived tenure of Dr Hussain that called for President’s role.

VV Giri
When Hussain died in harness, VV Giri, an outstanding personality of unique individuality, was elected through a keenly contested election against Dr Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. When his election was challenged in the Supreme Court he personally attended the Court, instead of permitting himself to be examined on Commission, tendered evidence, vindicated his stand and enhanced the dignity of the Court. Despite a splendid background he remained a mere titular head of the state.

Fakruddin Ali Ahmad
His successor Fakruddin Ali Ahmad (July 1974-February 1977) witnessed the need to remove Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister following the judgement of the Allahabad High Court setting aside her election to the Lok Sabha held in 1971 on an election petition filed by the unsuccessfully contested candidate, Raj Narayan from the same constituency.

He acted with utmost care and patiently waited till the interim decision of Vacation Judge of the Supreme Court had come and avoided a crisis. There were no further significant events that called for the President to act during his short tenure. His sudden death in February 1977 forced advance elections to the President’s office.

Meantime elections were held to the Lok Sabha and the ruling Congress faced a total root in the entire North, and the first non-Congress, Janata party, government headed by Morarji Desai came to power. Fakruddin Ali Ahmad proved that the President was nothing more than a rubber stamp, simply obeying the dictates of the Prime Minster, who did not hesitate a second to sign the bill to impose emergency in July 1975 without considering its pros and cons.

Dr Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Who was elected unopposed, however, asserted that the President could act on his own as and when the situation warranted. His tenure witnessed the internal and internecine quarrels in the ruling Janata Party that led to the change of Prime Minster, when he played a decisive role and installed Charan Singh as Prime Minister in July 1979.

When Charan Singh could not face a trust motion in the Lok Sabha he recommended the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and to order fresh elections even without facing the Parliament at least once. President Sanjiva Reddy dissolved the Lok Sabha on his advice, a hasty decision which met with severe criticism from all over the country.

Gyani Zail Singh
In view of the then prevailing Punjab problem Indira Gandhi thought it desirable to appease them by making Gyani Zail Singh the President. Zail Singh’s tenure faced a critical problem. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984 and her successor incumbent was to be appointed. He took the advice of seniors in the party and appointed Rajiv Gandhi, the son of Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister and the succession was smooth.

President Zail Singh had come very close to taking up cudgels against the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and even to threaten to dismiss him. He asserted his independent position by refusing to give his assent to the Postal Bill.
Similarly R Venkata Raman returned to the Government the Bill seeking to give pension to Members of Parliament after just one year’s service.

Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992-97) and KR Narayanan (1997-2002) had maintained normal relations with the Prime Ministers. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam brought back the glory and prestige of the office, which was held by men of high intellectual eminence and global reputation from the beginning to the end of VV Giri’s term.

His successor Pratibha Patil not only a titular head but was said to have made Rashtrapati Bhavan an extension of Sonia Gandhi’s kitchen, herself playing the role of cook. Pranab Mukherjee, a senior politician however maintained the dignity of the office.

In a country like India with a federal structure of Government, where there are no well-established conventions and practices, a reserve power above the Union Cabinet, who is not bound by party affiliations and obligations of favouritism, is a must. A powerful President is an assurance of safety to the Nation and a symbol of defence of the fundamental law of the land.

Let us hope that the new President preserves and enriches the status of the highest office of the land duly defending the Constitution and fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the largest democracy of the world.

By: DrThe writer is author and Senior Faculty, Centre for Urban
Chaganti Nagaraja RaoDevelopmentStudies,Dr. MCR HRD Institute.