With Ram Nath Kovind's and Venkaiah Naidu's elevation, it will be the first time that Bharatiya Janata Party would have its own President and Vice President, while it already has its Prime Minister and Speaker from the RSS stable
When the NDA announced the name of Ram Nath Kovind as its presidential nominee, it was the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who asked, “Kovind whoIJ” But his eventual election would not be a surprise as the NDA had the magic number to defeat the UPA candidate, Meira Kumar. Kovind will be the second Dalit President; the first being KR Narayanan (1997-2002.)
What does one expect in a PresidentIJ He/she should be presentable, impartial, with an impeccable track record, acceptable to all sections, an able communicator who would not hesitate to speak his mind, possess constitutional and legal acumen. The low profile Kovind fulfils most of these.
Who is KovindIJ He is a lawyer by profession, a believer of the Hindutva ideology and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Dalit face who had been a Rajya Sabha member twice. He also worked as an aide to Morarji Desai. Coming from Kanpur, he had worked in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and is backed by the RSS. Kovind had also been BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha chief (1998-2002) and president of the All-India Koli Samaj.
Why KovindIJ Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emotional statement, “Shoot me if you want but don’t endanger Dalits”, at a function sometime ago, shows the BJP’s outreach to the Dalits. The BJP expects that Kovind’s elevation will counter the Bahujan Samaj Party’s influence in Uttar Pradesh and also neutralise the Opposition elsewhere so they cannot brand the BJP as anti-Dalit after the recent atrocities on this caste people. It could arrest the disenchantment and alienation of Dalits with the BJP, who had voted for Narendra Modi.
Now that Kovind is to be the new tenant of Rashtrapati Bhavan, what would be his challengesIJ Will he emulate KR Narayanan, who faced politically turbulent times under two different regimes of the United Front and the Vajpayee-led NDA Government; upheld constitutional value, twice asking the Government of the day to reconsider its advice on the use of Article 356. In October 1987, he asked the the then Union Government to reconsider its decision to dismiss Kalyan Singh Government; and in October 1998, he returned a Vajpayee Cabinet’s resolution seeking the imposition of President’s Rule in Bihar. If such a situation arises, will Kovind do the sameIJ He has begun well by promising that he would protect the Constitution, when he was nominated.
KR Narayanan had said on assuming charge, “The President’s role has to be within the limits of the Constitution but the Constitution does give some strictly limited discretions to the President in certain circumstances. I do not know how these special circumstances will arise or whether they would arise at all. There might be a role for the President to reflect upon a critical situation and choose and according to what it, is his light, the right thinking according to the letter and spirit of the Constitution.” It equally applies to Kovind because we do not know what situation will arise in the next five years.
Second, after the 2019 poll, if the NDA has the adequate majority, there will be no problem. But in case of a fractured verdict, the President’s role will be crucial and he may have to take difficult decision — as did some of his predecessors such as Sanjiva Reddy. As of now, Modi is expected to come back after the 2019 lok Sabha election as there is no challenge to him.
The third is to keep a harmonious relationship with the executive. There have been instances of friction between Raisina Hill and the executive during the time of Sanjeeva Reddy, Giani Zail Singh, Narayanan and even Rajendra Prasad. On the other hand Presidents like Pranab Mukherjee, Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, S Radhakrishnan and Pratibha Patil signed on the dotted lines. Kovind, being a disciplined party man, is expected to have a harmonious relationship with Prime Minister Modi.
Fourth, how will he deal with the presidential pardonsIJ Under Article 72 of the Constitution of India, a President can grant pardon, and suspend, remit or commute a sentence of death; but he should act on the advice of the Council of Ministers. As President, Radhakrishnan commuted the death sentences in all the 57 mercy petitions decided by him. President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and President Sanjeeva Reddy did not get to deal with any mercy petition in their tenures. Giani Zail Singh rejected 30 of the 32 mercy petitions, while R Venkataraman rejected 45 of the 50 cases. Shankar Dayal Sharma rejected the mercy petitions in all 14 cases, while APJ Abdul Kalam rejected in one case and commuted a death sentence in another; he did not decide on 23 other cases. Pratibha Patil granted clemency to 34 convicts while rejecting three pleas. Fortunately for Kovind, Pranab Mukherjee had cleared his desk and rejected 30 cases and commuted to life the death sentences of four convicts — the last being in January. His fifth challenge is diplomatic, as he will be hosting Presidents and Prime ministers as the head of the state. He has had no diplomatic experience but this could be overcome by having a good team to advise him.
With Kovind’s and Venkaiah Naidu’s elevation, the ‘saffronisation’ of the top four constitutional posts will be complete. This will be the first time that the BJP would have its own President and Vice President, while it already has its Prime Minister and Speaker from the RSS stable.
(The writer is a senior political commentator and syndicated columnist)