India gets its new President

The election of Mr. Ram Nath Kovind as the 14^th President of the country was a foregone conclusion given the brute majority the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies command in Lok Sabha and the states ruled by them. His victory against the Congress party-led opposition candidate Meira Kumar was emphatic as he secured 65.65 percent votes of the electoral college with a total vote value of 702,044. Kumar ended up getting 367,314 votes representing 34.35 percent of the total votes polled.  The electoral college consisted of 4,896 voters --- 776 elected members of parliament and 4,120 members of legislative assemblies.

This is for the first time that a leader associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS will occupy the highest office since independence.  Mr. Kovind also becomes the second President representing the low-caste Dalit community. Mr. K. R. Narayanan was the first Dalit to be President of India. He will replace Dr. Pranab Mukherjee who demits office on July 24 after completing his five-year term. Mr. Kovind will be sworn in the next day.

The 71-year-old Mr. Kovind comes from a very humble origin from Kanpur as his father was a farmer.  After completing his graduation in law, Mr. Kovind moved to Delhi to prepare for the civil services exams. He cleared the exam in his third attempt but did not join as he was selected for the allied services.  Thereafter, he began practising as a lawyer in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court before he joined politics.  He also served as a Central Government standing counsel in the Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. He also has the reputation of representing India in the United Nations, and even addressed United Nations General Assembly in October 2002.

In 1991, he joined the BJP. Seven years later, he was made president of the BJP Dalit Morcha. He was also president of the All-India Koli Samaj. His political career did not start on a happy note as he made an unsuccessful bid to parliament from Ghatamur in Uttar Pradesh in 1990 on a BJP ticket. In 2007 UP assembly polls, the BJP fielded him from Bhognipur constituency, but he finished third. However, his two consecutive stints as a Rajya Sabha member from 1994 till 2006 give him an added legislative experience which will come in handy while discharging his duties as the President of the country.  He also served on several parliamentary committees as a member of parliament. He was also governor of Bihar before he was picked by the BJP to contest the presidential election.

Though the President’s role is largely ceremonial in India, but as the custodian of the constitution the President has to play a crucial role in times of uncertainty. However, in Mr. Kovind’s case, his stint is likely to be largely predictable as the BJP-led NDA commands absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and if political pundits are to be believed the alliance has fair chance of returning to power when the next general elections are held in 2019. Having its nominee at the Raisina Hill will also be a comforting factor for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government in getting assent on key bills, particularly the ordinances. The Modi government has often taken the ordinance route while heralding several economic reforms to bypass the Rajya Sabha, where it does not have a majority.

Now that the suspense regarding who will occupy the top constitutional post is over, it would have been better had there been a consensus candidate for the highest seat of power. For, the President does not belong to a particular political party. He is the first citizen of the country. The political parties will do well in future to present a united candidate rather than just putting up a candidate for the sake of opposition. This should be the ideal situation.  In fact, this has happened in the past when Mr. Sanjiva Reddy was elected unopposed in 1977. But all said and done, both Mr. Kovind and Mrs Kumar should be commended for leading dignified campaigns in the run-up to election. Both of them represent the backward Dalit community and have set the highest traditions by not getting involved in mud-slinging. In Mr. Kovind, the country can be reassured that the rights of the poor, downtrodden and the marginalized sections of the society will be secure.