President of India
-Seasoned and Mature Personality-
Ram
Nath Kovind, 71, was the NDA's presidential candidate who won with over 7 lakh
votes against opposition candidate Meira Kumar and has taken over as 14th
President of India.
He has served as the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes Wing and served for two full terms in Rajya Sabha from 1994-2000 and
2000-2006. He also served as national spokesperson of the BJP. Mr. Kovind
has addressed the United Nations as India’s representative in 2002.After his tenure in the Rajya Sabha, he was sworn-in as the
36th Governor of Bihar in August 2015. Kovind practiced at both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme
Court for 16 years.
He was born on October 1, 1945 in
Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Rural district. He came from a modest background
and worked his way from the ground to the top of the political pyramid. He
attained his B. Com and LLB degrees from Kanpur University and had a successful
career as a practicing lawyer. He served as the Central Government’s advocate
in Delhi High Court between 1977 and 1979. He was also standing counsel in
Supreme Court between 1980 and 1993. He was made Advocate-on-Record at the apex
court in 1978 and continued his legal practice at the Delhi High Court and
Supreme Court till 1993.
As a parliamentarian, he held key
positions in parliamentary committees during his 12-year stint as a lawmaker.
Besides serving as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha House Committee, he was member
of Parliamentary Committees on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes; Home
Affairs; Petroleum and Natural Gas; Social Justice and Empowerment; Law and
Justice.
He has several academic associations
as well. He is on the management board of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Lucknow. He is a member of Board
of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.
At the time of his nomination as a
presidential candidate by the ruling combination, intense hue and cry was
raised of him being a Dalit and therefore, a sort of frenzy suddenly erupted as if a great favor has been done to the Dalit
communities by a such nomination. His political, social and intellectual work was put aside and his dalit identity was projected on a mammoth screen by the media of this country. The situation so developed that the opposition
was also compelled to field another Dalit Meera Kumar, a former Speaker of House
of of people of the Indian Parliament as an opposition Presidential candidate.
If we analyze the qualification and
political experience of Shri Ram Nath Kovind, we will find that it is far superior to a number of persons who prior to
him have held the high office of the President of India. Therefore, trying to
highlight only the dalit identity and ignoring his qualification, works
in social and political field and loyalties to the party to which he belongs is gross injustice to his personality and the
apex office of this country. It may be correct to state that holding such high office may not
bring any amelioration as such in the conditions of dalits, however, occupying high position of President of
Indian Republic has a positive and inspirational value for coming generation of people. Such happenings and decisions in a democratic
republican system kindle hope and aspiration in the minds of younger generations of people.
Article 52 to 62 of the Constitution of
India deals with power and functions of the President. The President is elected
through an indirect election by an electoral college. As per the Constitutional scheme,
the President of India is a titular or ceremonial head. The executive power of the Union are vested in the President
and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate
to him in accordance with this Constitution.
Why the political parties in India which are under the control of upper castes blow out of proportion when they make a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe a candidate for such high office? In its background lies a long history. In the electoral process in India for the Lower House
of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and State Legislatures, there is a provision of
reservations of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Despite
this provision, competent and powerful leadership amongst these communities have
failed to emerge who can take the cause of their people with firm conviction on
the floor of the house and play a vital role in the formation of state policy in
their favour. The main reasons for not been able to do so is the lack of
representation of competent leaders in the caucus of political parties. The
caucus of almost all political parties is controlled by the upper caste elite.
In a democracy, election are fought by the political parties and while
selecting a candidate, caste configuration play a vital role. There is no intra-party
democracy in form of party election in the political parties nor party tickets are allocated to a candidate to fight election based on his popularity in the constituency. It is sweet will of the party caucus and many a times its top leadership to assign a candidate
for a constituency. This ailment has spread to almost all political parties in
India and is responsible for namesake democracy.
While commenting on non-election of
competent Scheduled Caste candidates in the legislature Babasahib Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar says in June 1945 in his book What Congress and Gandhi have done to
the Untouchables and Mr. Gandhi and Emancipation of Untouchables, “…...The fact is that the
Congress High Command in selecting a candidate had a definite policy namely in
the case of Brahmins, to give preference to a candidate who had the highest
educational qualifications and in the case of the Non-Brahmins and the
Scheduled Castes, to give preference to a candidate who had the lowest
educational qualification. Let those who have any doubts in the matter consider
the facts summarized in Table 22 (see page 224.)
It is obvious that in the case of the
Brahmins the relative proportion of graduates to non-graduates is far higher
than what it is in the case of the Non-Brahmins and the Scheduled Castes. The
difference in terms of graduates and non-graduates does not really reveal the
correct situation. To put it correctly, the Brahmin graduates were seasoned
politicians of high repute while the Non-Brahmin graduates were raw graduates
with the career of second class politicians to recommend them.
Why did the Congress select the best
educated Brahmins as its candidates for election? Why did the Congress select
the least educated Non-Brahmins and Scheduled Castes as its candidates for election?
To this question I can see only one answer. It was to prevent the Non-Brahmins
in the Congress from forming a ministry. The Congress seems to have deliberately
preferred an uneducated Non-Brahmin to an educated one because from the point
of view of the governing class, the uneducated Non-Brahmin has two definite
advantages over an educated non-Brahmin. In the first place, he is likely to be
more grateful to the Congress High Command for having got him elected than an
educated Non-Brahmin is likely to be, and would not be ready to revolt against
the Congress Ministry, formed by the governing classes, by joining hands with
the educated Non-Brahmins in the Congress Party should the latter aspire to
form a government of their own against the government of the governing classes.
In the second place, if more undergraduates or more raw Non-Brahmin graduates
were selected, it was with the purpose to prevent the Non-Brahmins in the
Congress from forming a competent and alternative Ministry to the detriment of
the governing class. The Non-Brahmins in the Congress do not know how the
Congress has deceived them, and how in drawing them inside the Congress, the
Congress was making a concealed attempt to permanently entrench the governing
classes in places of power and authority.”[i]
This argument holds good for election of a
public office from a Panch to the President in this country. Sadly, the
depressed classes are not willing to wage a struggle for social, spiritual and
cultural regeneration of its own social groups and Indian society as a whole.
The division in their rank and file is a major stumbling block. Everyone is
hankering after political power, attainment of which is difficult without
regeneration of society on the canons of liberty, equality, fraternity and
justice. These expressions are not hollow words but the moral and ethical
foundations of any democratic society.
Thucydides while addressing his opponents
once said, “It may be in your interest
to be our masters, where it is in our interest to be your slave.” Mental
slavery is the bedrock of all slavery. Any society has to tide over it but before that individual himself cross such a bridge.
I wish and hope that new President of India
would positively contribute towards establishing more human and inclusive
society on the cherished dreams of making Bharat a Prabudha Bharat – a
knowledge empowered society.
We are proud of our new President of India and his glorious feat.
________
1. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Volume 9, page 222.
