Our June 2002 cover

There were a succession of such presidents but five years ago there was refreshing change when the incumbent President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was nominated. He was a scientist not a politician, had many great achievements to his credit and was a person known for his integrity. Despite operating in the mire of coalition politics, Kalam turned out to be a hugely popular president.

With the advent of coalition politics, the office of president has assumed a greater degree of importance. Ironically, it is the new Mrs Gandhi, Sonia, who announced the name of Pratibha Patil as its presidential candidate on behalf of the ruling UPA Government. With the result that this has again become India’s most fractious presidential election in recent memory.

The first reaction across India to Patil’s nomination was ‘Pratibha, who?’ Patil is an unknown entity in national politics and has no real distinction to her credit. The reasons for her selection are obviously political.

Although the idea of a woman president is an appealing one, married into a Shekhawat family, she cut through caste barriers as she was a clanswoman to her closest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. She suited the UPA’s purpose. The Governor of Rajasthan, a former MLA and MP she championed education, women’s empowerment and rural development.

Our cover story this week is about the life and political career of the woman who could be president. Principal Correspondent Prerana Thakurdesai travelled to Patil’s home town Jalgaon and through Buldhana district, talking to her family, her opponents and ordinary party workers. As it turns out, Patil’s past is far from perfect.

Thakurdesai found that Patil’s name was linked to more than one unsavoury incident. She is accused of shielding members of her family over charges of murder and an abetment to suicide. Projects and banks started by her that were meant to help rural women have been liquidated due to malpractices or just abandoned with hundreds left in the lurch. Patil’s personal philosophy and public pronouncements do not reflect the kind of inclusiveness needed for an aspiring president.

According to the present political arithmetic, in all probability Pratibha Patil will be the next president of India. Then, I believe the most asked question will not be, ‘Pratibha, who?’, but ‘Pratibha, why?’

Index