'Kalam wanted to quit as President in 2005'

| | Bhubaneswar
  • 0

'Kalam wanted to quit as President in 2005'

Monday, 30 November 2015 | PTI | Bhubaneswar

 APJ Abdul Kalam had thought of quitting as the President in 2005 after the Supreme Court quashed the proclamation dissolving Bihar Assembly, according to SM Khan, who was his Press Secretary at that time.

“Though Kalam was reluctant, he signed the proclamation. He could have rejected it but would have had no option but to sign the same if it was sent to him for the second time,” Khan said while addressing the students of Sikshya O Ansandhan University.

When the Apex court quashed the proclamation, Kalam was penitent saying he should have rejected the Cabinet’s decision and thought of resigning from his post, Khan said, adding “He even consulted his elder brother in Rameswaram.

Kalam later decided against any such step as it would have triggered a lot of constitutional problems, said the former Press Secretary, who is at present the Director General of RNI, in his lecture titled ‘My Days with the Greatest Human Soul Ever’.

In 2005, the then Bihar Governor Buta Singh had recommended the dissolution of the Assembly which the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved and forwarded to the President. Kalam, who was on a visit to Moscow at that time, signed it there.

It was challenged in the Supreme Court whose five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Justice YK Sabharwal, in a majority verdict held on October 7, 2005 that “the proclamation of May 23 dissolving the Bihar Assembly is unconstitutional.”

Describing Kalam, who passed away in July this year, as a person who was completely detached from material things, Khan said the late President did not own anything, be it a house, a car, a television or a refrigerator.

“Almost all his life as a scientist and teacher, he lived in hostels and guest houses. But his only possession were his books. And he insisted that he should buy his books and never took any book from any one as a gift saying chances were that he would not read them,” he said.               

State Editions

MP and Maharashtra join hands for collaborative progress: CM

23 November 2024 | Staff Reporter | Bhopal

Cong wants to defame nation and state: Sabnani

23 November 2024 | Staff Reporter | Bhopal

4 year RI in bribery case

23 November 2024 | PNS | Bhopal

National-level hackathon organized at SISTec Gandhi Nagar

23 November 2024 | Staff Reporter | Delhi

Will Ijtema market worsen traffic woes around Hamidia?

23 November 2024 | Staff Reporter | Bhopal

Sunday Edition

Grand celebration of cinema

17 November 2024 | Abhi Singhal | Agenda

Savouring Kerala’s Rich Flavours

17 November 2024 | Abhi Singhal | Agenda

The Vibrant Flavours OF K0REA

17 November 2024 | Team Agenda | Agenda

A Meal Worth Revisiting

17 November 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

A Spiritual Getaway

17 November 2024 | Santanu Ganguly | Agenda

Exploring Daman A Coastal Escape with Cultural Riches

17 November 2024 | Neeta Lal | Agenda