Search for a New President

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS

While the Central leaders maintained a studied reticence in talking to pressmen about Dr Zakir Husain’s successor until the late President’s funeral was over, one could hear the muffled whispers on the subject even as the VIPs drove into the cobbled courtyard of the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the fateful Saturday afternoon for Sri Giri’s investiture as the acting President.

Those unversed in the realities of New Delhi’s politics regarded such talks as betraying indecent haste when the nation was in a state of mourning at the sudden passing away of a gentle President. But no such inhibition constrained Seth Govind Das, the intrepid champion of Hindi, in opening the campaign for Sri Jagjivan Ram for the august office.

When the news first appeared, New Delhi observers pricked their ears for they had good reason to believe that Seth Govind Das would not have made the suggestion without Sri Morarji Desai’s complete concurrence. It was evident that Sri Desai wanted Sri Jagjivan Ram to be made the President and his followers started the campaign in full swing. Even at the burial ground at Jamia Millia, some of the senior Congress leaders were found holding consultations on the subject, while in the Central Hall of Parliament, the brisk cam-paign almost gave the impression that Sri Jagjivan Ram had already won half the battle.

Many arguments have been advanced in support of Sri Jagjivan Ram’s candidature. This would be the first time that a Harijan could be installed as the President of the Republic, and this itself would be a fitting tribute to the memory of Gandhiji in the year of his birth centenary; this way the appeal is sought to be made even to non-Congress Harijans. Jagjivan Babu’s home State being Bihar, the idea is being sold particularly to the Bihar MPs, who constitute no small force in the entire electoral college for the Presidential poll. There is also the additional gain in shifting Sri Ram to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The vacancy caused in the Cabinet thereby may facilitate Sri Patil’s joining the government. This way too, the Morarji tactic is proving to be a shrewed one, in the background of the recent Patil-Morarji axis. Besides, Sri Jagjivan Ram’s stand against Hindu orthodoxy over the embargo on beef eating as also his occasional appearance before forward-looking gatherings like the Congress Forum for Socialist Action are being highlighted to attract Left support.

However, the minus points against Sri Jagjivan Ram are not unknown to many in the Capital. There were occasions in Parliament when charges of corruption against him hit the headlines, charges which have not yet been adequately or convincingly refuted. In fact, it was learnt in 1962, that Nehru was hesitant about including Sri Ram in the Cabinet after that year’s General Election because of the bulky dossier that had accumulated against him. Knowledgeable circles seem to hold that the skeletons in Sri Jagjivan Ram’s cupboard are no less impressive than those in Sri Morarji Desai’s. On this score at least, Sri Desai can claim to be more eligible to be President. Moreover, the fact of being backed by a Hindi fanatic like Seth Govind Das might go against his getting votes from the South.

IN terms of power-structure at the Centre, the fact that Sri Jagjivan Ram’s candidature has Sri Desai’s blessings, if not sponsorship, has consi-derable significance. During the hectic days that followed Shastri’s sudden demise in January 1966, Sri Jagjivan Ram began as a supporter, not of Smt Indira Gandhi but of Sri Desai: and it was mainly through the efforts of Sri Kamaraj that Sri Ram could be persuaded to change sides and come over to Smt Gandhi. At that time, many in Sri Desai’s camp were bitter against Sri Kamaraj for having managed to steal the horse from the Morarji stable, and, no doubt this spoilt Sri Desai’s chances in the race for Prime Ministership. Sri Desai’s supporters now claim that Sri Ram’s rapproche-ment with Smt Gandhi was never complete as could be seen from the hitch over what portfolio to be assigned to him. However, in recent months, there has been no report of any strained relations between Sri Ram and Smt Gandhi. This has made it all the more surprising that Sri Desai’s battalions should back Sri Jagjivan Ram. Could it be that the pre-1966 entente between Sri Desai and Sri Jagjivan Ram has been reforged? Or, perhaps Sri Desai would like to see as President a person who would be reluctant to underwrite any step against him in view of the record that he carries himself. There can also be a third interpretation: Sri Desai, not having totally given up hopes of becoming the Prime Minister, would like to see as President a person who would not be too fastidious about the extra-mural activities of the Deputy Prime Minister vis-à-vis the Birlas.

Incidentally, it may be noted that Sri Jagjivan Ram has been a long-standing Birla devotee: he could enjoy the Birla patronage, thanks mainly to Gandhiji’s recommendation, as the Congress at that time was anxious to set up a counter-weight against Dr Ambedkar in the bid to capture the support of the Harijans.
The Morarji lobby by itself cannot get for Sri Jagjivan Ram the passport for the Rashtrapati Bhavan. What about the Syndicate? The Syndicate is in a quandary over the Presidential poll. Three of its stalwarts are themselves believed to be keen on becoming President—Sri Nijalingappa, Sri Sanjiva Reddy and Sri Kamaraj. The Syndicate as such has not yet formulated a concerted line with regard to the contest. That was why the Syndicate bosses saw to it that the Congress Working Committee did not immediately finalise the issue, and so even the date was not fixed for the next meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Board which will choose the Congress candidate for the Presidential poll. It appears that the Syndicate is not yet ready to challenge Smt Gandhi’s authority: perhaps it would prefer to await Sri Patil’s return from Banaskantha. Meanwhile, the bosses would not mind any embarrassment being caused to the Prime Minister; it is worth noting that some of them have been trying to sell the campaign in support of Sri Jagjivan Ram as proof that Smt Gandhi could not so far field any candidate of her own choice.

One of the handicaps facing the three aspirants from the Syndicate camp is that all of them come from the South. So long as Sri V.V. Giri continues as the Vice-President, it is likely that the prefe-rence for the Presidentship woiuld be given to somebody from the North. On this score, how-ever, reports are current that Sri Giri himself might prefer to step down from Vice-President-ship if he is not considered for the post of the President.

WHILE the Prime Minister has not yet indicated her preference, there is an impression in New Delhi that she might welcome a member of any of the minority communities being chosen. It is worth noting that the demand put forward by an Akali leader for the selection of a Sikh President has not been resented at all in responsible quar-ters in New Delhi. Obviously, Sardar Swaran Singh’s name comes up in this connection. Those who have watched his career in the Cabinet, they vouch for the fact that from the political stand-point, he has no divergence or strain in his relations with the Prime Minister. It is yet too early to say how the main body of the Congress party would take Sardar Swaran Singh’s candidature. As for himself, he is believed to have left the matter entirely to the Prime Minister.
A subtle whisper campaign has been started in New Delhi that Smt Gandhi would not this time repeat her 1967 performance in backing a Muslim candidate for the Presidentship. Obviously such talks emanate from those quarters in the Congress who would like to come closer to the Jana Sangh.

However, others in the Capital feel that the case for a Muslim being made the President has been considerably strengthened by the worthy manner in which Dr Zakir Hussain conducted himself as the Head of State, giving the lie to those who had opposed his candidature mainly because he was a Muslim. Besides, many of the Congressmen who strongly feel that the challenge of the Jana Sangh has to be combated if the Congress has to survive particularly in North India, would like to see a member of the minority community installed in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In fact, such a move on the part of the Congress is bound to enlist instant support from many of the Left parties, particularly the Communists who are definite that they would not repeat their mistake of 1967 in opposing Dr Zakir Hussain’s candidature in the phoney euphoria of anti-Congressism.

There is no doubt a body of opinion in New Delhi which is inclined to support Sri Giri being made the President, thereby continuing the tradition maintained so far as the Vice-President being made the President. There is very little of definite objection against Sri Giri, while there is equally very little to commend him for the Presidentship. He has shown little of the mettle of a President while functioning as the Vice-President, in contrast to his two illustrious predecessors in office.

The manner in which Sri Jagjivan Ram’s blitzkrieg campaign for Presidentship has been mounted makes it doubtful whether any other candidate would have a chance of getting the Congress ticket. For one thing, the Congress will make it a prestige point that its nominee for Presidentship should be a Congress candidate. This point was raised even in 1962 when Dr Radhakrishnan was elected, but could not carry weight because of Nehru’s insistence and Dr Radhakrishnan’s personal eminence (Incidentally, the name which cropped up at the time contra-posed against Dr Radhakrishnan was that of Sri Jagjivan Ram.) Now, at a time when there is so much talk in the air of the Congress fast losing its majority hold even in Parliament it is likely that the Congress leadership would at least demonstrate its strength and avoid choosing a non-party person as its candidate for the Presidentship.
Under the circumstances, it seems that those who have strong reservations about Sri Jagjivan Ram’s eligibility for Presidentship, might finally prefer to let Sri Giri become the new President. Thus negatively—that is, to keep Sri Ram out—a good section of Congressmen may insist on making Sri Giri the President. The line of least disturbance of the status quo has become the law of politics in New Delhi.
Thus at the time of writing, it appears that the tussle for Presidentship will be largely confined between Sri Jagjivan Ram and Sri V.V. Giri, unless the Prime Minister chooses to take a bold decision and make a determined bid for a candidate whose eminence and integrity would be more in keeping with the prestige and dignity that this country enjoys in the comity of nations. The alternative open for her is to kick upstairs anyone of her Cabinet colleagues whom she can dispense with or who may have become a problem for her. This implies that she should be able to consolidate her government’s position in such a way that the President will really be the figurehead as the spirit of the Constitution wants him to be. Which of the two courses she will take depends on her own assessment of the power-structure at the Centre.

THE question of electing a new President has thus become a crucial political issue today. This would not have been so if the political situation had been stable, because in the normal circumstances our Constitution does not permit many powers for the President. He is to go by the advice of the Prime Minister who has to command a majority in the Lok Sabha. The President in normal times has very little powers as against the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers which the Prime Minister chooses.

But when the Congress party itself is managing with a small majority in Parliament and there are factional groupings inside the Congress party, there is a constant danger of Smt Indira Gandhi’s Ministry losing the majority in Parliament if one faction inside the Congress revolts and joins hands with the Opposition. It was because of this realisation that after the 1967 General Election, Smt Gandhi chose Dr Zakir Husain for President-ship because he was close to her and could be relied upon to act according to her wishes. She actively campaigned for Dr Zakir Husain because she realised that without a President totally identifying himself with her position, there will be difficulty for her to maintain the stability of the government.
It is the President’s discretion to decide whether the leader of a particular party commands the majority in Parliament and is therefore eligible to form the government. In the past, when the Congress had an overwhelming majority in Parliament there could be no dispute on this point and so the previous Presidents automatically called upon the Congress party leader to become Prime Minister and form the government. But now with the prospect of uncertainty about the Congress retaining its majority in Parliament, the President can exercise his own discretion and refuse to comply with a particular leader’s request to let him form the government; the President can also at his discretion decide whether the reigning Cabinet had lost the majority and therefore should resign.

Even if there were no threat to Smt Gandhi’s government, there is always the danger that with a President not totally identifying himself with her position, he might soon become the gossip- centre of her critics and thereby create conditions which could certainly be unwholesome for the smooth continuation of the government. For instance, if the Prime Minister thinks it better to have a fresh general election in which her critics, within her party and outside, could be defeated and ousted, she has to go to the President and request for a fresh mandate from the electorate. If the President is attached to her, then he may comply with her request, but if the President is attached not to her but to her opponents, then he may refuse to oblige the Prime Minister and she might have to face a defeat in Parliament through a revolt engineered by her opponents; this way she too could be forced to resign.

Moreover, it is not always the question of having the advantage of a President complying with the request for a fresh general election. An unfriendly President having a political or factional interest in promoting the opponents of the Prime Minister—maybe those inside her own party—can do enormous mischief, contributing to the creation of a climate most unsuited for the functioning of her government.

It has therefore come as no surprise to New Delhi observers that the Prime Minister’s critics today attach so much importance to the office of the President. Under the democratic norms envisaged in our Constitution, it is the office of the Prime Minister which should be politically supreme with the President working like a constitutional ruler. The party bosses, having been largely discredited at the polls, are keen on opening a new front against the Prime Minister and thus they are eager today in investing fresh political importance to the office of the President. In terms of constitutional ethics any move to upgrade the political importance of the office of the President does not tally with the principles of parliamentary democracy. When the forces of vested interests find it difficult to have their own way through normal democratic procedure, they have been known in history to have undermined or smashed up the parliamentary system itself. The current campaign to boost the office of the President in our political set-up has to be under-stood in this context as an ominous development which can hardly help to strengthen the existing democratic system in this country.

The search for a new President has thus got intertwined with the attempts at lopsided emphasis on the importance of the office of the President. This is perhaps the inevitable result of the complex political realities prevalent in this country today.

(‘Political Notebook’, Mainstream, May 10, 1969)