The common perception about the office of Indian President is that it is largely ornamental and the President lacks real powers. This could be true to a certain extent as the Indian President is head of the state and not the head of the government and therefore lacks executive powers. But it doesn’t mean that the Indian President has no real powers.
In fact, the Constitution of India has invested such vast powers in the office of President that an active and thinking President can not only challenge the collective wisdom of the elected representatives but can also block every move which he or she does not agree to.
A common man may be oblivious to this fact but our politicians are very much aware of this and that’s the reason why they always want someone pliable on Raisina Hill.
After Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, no other frontline and independent minded politician was allowed to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan primarily because of this reason. Dr Rajendra Prasad’s differences with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on many issues especially Hindu Code Bill convinced successive Prime Ministers to ensure the election of rubber stamps to the highest office in the country.
Yes, Giani Zail Singh was a practicing politician but he always walked the political path with crutches provided by Indira Gandhi. And who can forget his infamous statement marking the nadir of sycophancy when he said he was ready to sweep the floor if Indira Gandhi asked her to do so?
Before T N Seshan took over as Chief Election Commissioner, the CEC office was never taken seriously by political parties but using the same powers enshrined under the Indian Constitution, Seshan succeeded in completely changing the rules of the game.
It’s time Rashtrapati Bhawan also gets someone who would refuse to become another rubber stamp and will not mind to stand up and be counted if the situation so demands.
Is it needed? Why do we need an assertive and independent minded president?
The answer is an emphatic ‘Yes’. Consider a few cases where an active Presient could have saved the country huge embarrassments.
Had Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad been a person of moral standing with spine worth the name, Indira Gandhi would not have succeeded in trampling upon our democratic structure and imposed emergency.
It’s the President who is supposed to put his foot down in such cases where the elected government starts taking whimsical decisions.
Similarly, in Shah Bano case, Rajiv Gandhi misused his brute majority and overruled the Supreme Court judgment which gave the BJP a handle to introduce its own brand of Hindutva politics which was more anti-minority than pro-majority.
An active and thinking President could have advised the government not to show disrespect to the Supreme Court ruling and may be that could have stopped the BJP from harping on Congress party’s reckless appeasement policies for a particular community aimed at electoral gains.
It will not be completely wrong to say that Shah Bano episode introduced competitive communal politics in Independent India which spilled over to Ayodhya dispute and culminated in the demolition of Babri structure resulting in riots across the country including Godhra riots of 2002.
Can the president stop a ruling party or coalition, which has a brute majority in parliament, from making a law which can pose serious challenges to the nation in future? Of course, he can.
No bill passed by the parliament can become a law unless it’s duly signed by the President and this is something which makes the Indian President so powerful.
The Constitution has armed the President with a few veto powers which he can exercise if need be. The most potent veto power is the Pocket veto under which he can keep the bill pending with him forever. This veto was exercised by Giani Zail Singh in the case of postal amendment bill which was later withdrawn by the V P Singh government .
The bottomline is that an active, thinking and independent-minded president can stop the government of the day from becoming authoritarian. The constitution has empowered him to put enough checks and balances so that the government does not succeed in misusing its numerical majority in the parliament.
Can Pranab Mukherjee, who is all set to be the next occupant of Rashtrapati Bhawan, be expected to introduce a new chapter in the history of Indian presidency?
Well, there is no doubt over the fact that he is an independent minded person. He had the courage to defy Rajiv Gandhi and form his own party in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination and ascendency of Rajiv to 7, Race course road.
Pranab considered himself to be the real succesor of Indira Gandhi and could not come to terms with the mantle passing on to Rajiv, who was a novice in politics.It’s a different matter that he realized limitations of his mass appeal later on and patched up with Rajiv.
For this reason, Pranab lost out to Manmohan Singh in the PM race as Sonia Gandhi never trusted him beyond a point and Pranab had to serve under Manmohan Singh who was his subordinate at one point in time.
When Pranab Mukherjee was the Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh, the then RBI Governor, used to report to him. Pranab Mukherjee’s name for Presidency was floated last time as well but his track record and independent minded approach came in the way and he lost out.
Even this time, Sonia was not very convinced about his suitability but she was left with no other option than to offer him the presidency on a platter, thanks to idiosyncrasies of Mamata Banerjee who is now feared among both friends and foes for her my- way or high- way approach.
Undoubtedly, Pranab Mukherjee has the high stature and long experience in public life which makes him a right claimant to the highest office in this country. But will he show the courage to break free of the rubber stamp image of past presidents?
It’s difficult to answer this question simply because of the fact that he has spent his entire life in a party which demands sycophancy and surrender to the family as pre-requisites for political growth.
Yes, he did try o carve out and tread his own path but lost the courage and motivation half-way. This time, he has nothing to lose as he has already achieved what a Congressman of his track record could ever dream of.
Now is the time for him to set new precedents by giving a new direction to Indian polity, sitting on the same throne which another practising and independent minded politician Dr Rajendra Prasad once occupied.
One thing is for sure, the country is fed up with rubber stamp images of successive presidents and an active, independent and thinking president will be like a breath of fresh air for the nation.
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