*Kalam's acceptance takes UNPA leaders by surprise * http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/21/stories/2007062158871400.htm
Gargi Parsai ------------------------------ *Sonia Gandhi refuses to meet third front leaders* *Vajpayee says he will consult the NDA's allies* ------------------------------ NEW DELHI: Leaders of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) were taken by surprise when President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam agreed to their suggestion to contest for a second term. What was meant to be a perfunctory gesture — amidst rumours that the President had already conveyed his reluctance in the absence of a "consensus" — turned out to be a serious effort by the end of the day. The UNPA leaders spoke to United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who said Pratibha Patil was their candidate. When they sought an appointment to meet her, Ms. Gandhi said she would get back. She later returned the call, saying she did not think it was necessary to meet on the issue, Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu told mediapersons. Next, the UNPA leaders called National Democratic Alliance chairman Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who agreed to meet them. During the meeting, Mr. Vajpayee was joined by Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh and senior leaders L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh. The NDA has thrown its weight behind Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, with one of its allies — the Shiv Sena — categorically declaring its opposition to Mr. Kalam's candidature. Mr. Vajpayee, however, said he would consult the NDA allies and also speak to Mr. Shekhawat. The UNPA leaders will meet him again on Thursday evening. "The best candidate" "Seeing the mood of the nation and the will of the people, we believe that Mr. Kalam is the best candidate. It is in the interest of the nation. He is the common man's President," Mr. Naidu said after the UNPA leaders met Mr. Kalam. The TDP leader said Mr. Kalam told the UNPA delegation that he was willing to contest for a second term "if there was certainty." He too had been receiving "millions of e-mails from people from all walks of life asking him to contest for a second term," the President was quoted as saying. Asserting that there was no politics involved, Mr. Naidu said Mr. Kalam would win hands down if the people were to vote on the issue. But since only political parties were involved in the Presidential election, the UNPA would try to build a consensus on Mr. Kalam. "If all political parties support [it], there will be certainty." Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh put out an appeal to "all" candidates to withdraw in favour of Mr. Kalam. Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala quoted the President as saying that he needed "certainty." "Give me time. I will decide," he is supposed to have told the UNPA delegation. The President's media managers were present at the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises when the UNPA leaders were briefing the media. Among the other leaders present at the meeting with Mr. Kalam included Amar Singh (SP), Yerran Naidu (TDP), M. Thambidurai, K. Malaisamy, V. Maithreyan (All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), Vaiko and Pollachi Krishnan (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), and A. Goswami (Asom Gana Parishad). AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa could not come as she was not well, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said. More meetings today The UNPA has lined up appointments on Thursday with Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in their bid to assure a "certainty" for Mr. Kalam to contest. *Muslim Set to Become India's Next President* * * http://www.islamonline.net/english/News/2002-06/14/article24.shtml APJ Abdul Kalam *By Zafarul-Islam Khan, IOL South Asia Correspondent* NEW DELHI, June 14 (IslamOnline) - In fast changing political developments here, a Muslim scientist emerged as the next President of the Republic of India. Various candidates, including Krishna Kant, the current vice president of India, have been dumped in favor of the eminent scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Dr Kalam is the brain behind India's ambitious missile and nuclear programs and has received India's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, which is seldom awarded to a living person. After a series of controversial nominations, the ruling National Democratic Alliance came up with the name of Dr Kalam for the country's top post which falls vacant on July 24 this year. Normally the vice president is elevated to the post of president but a number of factors worked for Dr Kalam. The ruling BJP wants to send a message to the Muslims in India as well as to the outside world that it is not anti-Muslim. Moreover, Dr Kalam being a south Indian, this is a sop for south India as well which normally feels left out when it comes to top political appointments. After an initial reluctance the Congress Party too has endorsed Dr Kalam's candidature. Hence his election is a forgone conclusion. Many small parties like Uttar Pradesh's largest party, Samajwadi, AIDMK which rules Tamil Nadu, and TDP which rules Andhra Pradesh, have also supported Dr Kalam's candidature. The only exception is the leftist parties which objected to Dr Kalam on the mere ground that as a scientist, he is not fit for the post. The Left parties today decided to field Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, one of the commanders of the legendary "Indian National Army" which fought against the British under the leadership of Subhash Chandra Bose. But Ms Sahgal stands little chance to defeat Dr Kalam who will be elected by an electoral college comprising the members of parliament and state legislative assemblies. Opposition parties' People's Front became a direct victim of the presidential elections. It fell apart this week when Samajwadi Party decided to support Dr Kalam while the leftist parties decided to oppose him. The Opposition parties' first choice was the current president, KR Narayanan, who earned the current government's displeasure for taking steps like refusing to signs controversial laws or opposing the ousting of state governments on the advice of the central government as in the state of Bihar. Narayanan wanted to be re-elected only if he was the consensus candidate. He opted out once Dr Kalam's name was proposed by the ruling NDA. Prime Minister Vajpayee was forced to rethink his earlier choice when NDA's proposed candidate, Maharashtra state governor Dr PC Alexander, was summarily rejected by the Congress Party. Dr Kalam's candidature was proposed by the TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. Since Dr Kalam enjoys great respect for his services in development of the Indian missile and nuclear arsenal There was no objection even from Hindu extremist parties like the Shiv Sena. The only fault his opponents could find was that Dr Kalam lacks political experience which is necessary for the president who, though mostly ceremonial like the British monarch, at times has to take crucial constitutional decisions. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam is known as the "father of the Indian missile." Hailing from Rameshwaram in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Dr Kalam was the brain behind India's indigenous development of surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles such as Agni, Trishul, Nag etc. It was under his stewardship that the country's nuclear programme rose to commendable heights. Dr Kalam would become the second apolitical person after Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, a philosopher, to occupy the highest office of the land. The next president will be the twelfth occupant of Rashtrapati Bhawan, the imposing presidential palace in New Delhi which before Independence served as the residence of the British viceroy in India. Though the President is the head of State in India, all powers are vested in the Prime Minister and Parliament. Although all parties claimed to be looking for a consensus candidate, their divergent interests and conflicting loyalties prevent such a possibility. Of the eleven presidential elections so far, from 1952 to 1997, only once the winner emerged unopposed and that too following Congress Party's humiliating defeat in the post-Emergency elections when it decided not to field any candidate in 1977. It was only then that Sanjiva Reddy was elected unopposed. The closest presidential fight so far took place in August 1969 between two Congress candidates, VV Giri and Mr Sanjiva Reddy. The contest took a dramatic turn when Indira Gandhi went against the official candidate of the Congress Party and fielded her own candidate VV Giri who won by securing just about 50.2 percent votes against Reddy's 48.5 percent. The biggest margin so far was managed by the first president, Dr Rajendra Prasad, who bagged 99.3 percent votes for his second term. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's candidature at this stage is an extraordinary event due to the recent Gujarat anti-Muslim pogroms. Analysts say that the ruling NDA, especially Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, wants to wash off the sins of Gujarat and there would be no better opportunity than to place a Muslim on the top job of the land to undo the ruling party's sullen image. Most opposition parties would find it difficult to oppose the candidature of a Muslim like Dr Kalam with his impeccable credentials to occupy the top post under the present circumstances. Profile of India's President: APJ Abdul Kalam http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2004/06/profile-of-indias-president-apj-abdul.html As most readers probably know, India's Parliamentary system has a Prime Minister, who has most of the real power in government, and a President, who has authority mainly in forming new governments, as well as dissolving them in instances of crisis. The President is supposed to be neutral with regard to constituency, and is therefore not allowed to be a member of Parliament himself before being elected to office (he is elected by a special electoral college-- not by popular vote). India's current PM is Manmohan Singh, about whom I have already written<http://www.lehigh.edu/%7Eamsp/2004/05/so-no-sonia-sardar-profile-of-manmohan.html>. But its President is a man named Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (APJ) Abdul Kalam, a Tamilian Muslim who was, for most of his adult life, an aeronautical engineer for the Indian missile program. He was quite successful there, and was the leader of the programs that led to the successful development of the AGNI and PRITHVI missiles. Kalam is a fascinating man, but his actual personal contribution to political life in India is unclear. He has real power -- the President has the power to dissolve governments and call for new elections -- but as of now he has not had to use it. Even powers such as Article 356<http://www.flonnet.com/fl1521/15210120.htm>are only arguably associated with the President; in recent invocations, the center's power to dissolve intransigent state governments seems to have been used more as a political tool at the will of Parliament than as a power of the President. (There have long been criticisms of the abuse of Article 356. See this interview with Supreme Court Justice Krishna Iyer<http://www.flonnet.com/fl1514/15140240.htm>on Article 356, and this helpful summary<http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/op/2003/05/06/stories/2003050600010200.htm>in *The Hindu* on the limitations of the Statute according to the *Bommai*ruling of the Supreme Court in 1994.) *"200% Indian"* Kalam has a personal webpage <http://www.abdulkalam.com/>, as well as an official, 'President of India' page<http://presidentofindia.nic.in/>. There was, briefly, a blog <http://abdulkalam.blogspot.com/> dedicated to following Kalam's doings, as well as this<http://www.geocities.com/siafdu/kalam.html>helpful biography. Sify <http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13366195> also has a profile of him, which is interesting because of its emphasis on Kalam's "Indianness" -- these profiles all refer to Kalam as "200% Indian," as if being merely 100% Indian would be somehow unconvincing. To me, the repeated reference to Kalam's "Indianness" suggests that there is *some* discomfort with an Indian Muslim in such a position of power. (Perhaps not a lot -- but read the Sify piece and see what you think) *Science and Technology*. Kalam is a technocrat, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. On the one hand, his science background means that his record is clean and full of decisive professional accomplishments. Especially impressive are his involvement in the development of India's first satellites, as well as its ballistic missile capability. It also means that his interest in scientific progress (including economic progress) is more important than any particular political line. *'Connectivity' vs. Condoms*. But technocrats also sometimes lack a sense of human proportion or the humility of politicians driven by messy historical realities. Kalam's speeches are long on science, but short on emphasis on civil rights or social justice. For example, read this speech<http://www.indianembassy.org/president/jan25_03.html>, from Republic Day 2003. Here Kalam enumerates science program after science program -- biomedical research, space exploration, defense, 'knowledge society', and a lot of talk about 'connectivity' in rural areas. Many of the programs are oriented towards solving India's human problems -- he does mention AIDS research at one point. But he sees AIDS it as a problem for more science & research, not as a social problem that will require some awkward references to condoms, sex, and drug use before it can be contained in India. *Religion and Secularism.* Kalam is a spiritual man, with personal connections to both Hinduism and Islam (he is a *Ram Bhakt*, but he also does Muslim prayers twice a day). This flexibility on religion -- Kalam is clearly secular, but not *too* secular -- is in my view an important factor in why he (as a Muslim) was the chosen candidate of the NDA (BJP coalition) in 2002. There was some controversy<http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IET20040607124222&Title=Southern+News+-+Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0&;>over some statements in Kalam's recent speech (7th June) to Parliament on the occasion of the opening of the new session: The outcome of the elections is indicative of people's yearning for inclusiveness – economic, social and cultural and their rejection of the forces of divisiveness and intolerance. The verdict is for establishing the rule of law and repairing our secular fabric. This Government is committed to providing the right ambience for fulfilling the aspirations implicit in the people's mandate. This is clearly a criticism of the preceding government -- which Kalam was actually a part of. But in fact, this speech is always ceremonial; the contents are given to him by the ruling party (in this case, Congress). Kalam is more or less simply reciting them (thanks to the commentors on Jivha <http://www.jivha.com/blog/> for pointing this out to me). So praising or criticizing him for this statement is misplaced; the speech was authored by the Congress Party. One can, however, assign Kalam responsibility for mentioning secularism in his first speech to Parliament in July 2002, on the occasion of assuming the office of the President: I wish to emphasize my unflinching commitment to the principle of secularism, which is the corner stone of our nationhood and which is the key feature of our civilisational strength. During the last one year I met a number of spiritual leaders of all religions. They all echoed one message, that is, unity of minds and hearts of our people will happen and we will see the golden age of our country, very soon. I would like to endeavour to work for bringing about unity of minds among the divergent traditions of our country. This is a very small reference in a speech that is big on vague generalities. But it is interesting, and at least a little bold, considering he was being put into power on the strength of a BJP government that had come into power denouncing "secularism," and that moreover had been associated with anti-Muslim riots in Gujurat just a few months earlier. Kalam did denounce the killings of Muslims in Gujurat, but before assuming the Presidency (according to this source<http://www.indiafirstfoundation.org/archives/media%20x-rayed/mediawatch/2002/september0802.htm>) he didn't criticize either Narendra Modi or the BJP. *Personal* On a lighter note, Kalam is unmarried, and a teetotaller and vegetarian. He also plays the Veena and has an appreciation for Tamil poetry. He often quotes the famous Tamil poets Bharatidasana and Subramania Bharatiyar ("who died in 1939 at the age of 35, killed by an elephant while giving it a coconut"). In one recent Parliamentary speech, I saw a quote from the great Bhatki/Sufi mystic Kabir: "Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ab" ("What you want to do tomorrow do it today, and what you want to do today do it now").
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