The current flavor of the season is the next presidential elections
coming up. The current President Prathiba Patil is set to retire in another
three months and the government needs to choose a successor.The current incumbent president is herself involved in many
controversies regarding her extended foreign tours with families at the expense
of taxpayer’s money but that is a different topic. The President of India is a
symbol of the Republic nation that we are. The President is the Head of the
state and also the supreme commander of the armed forces. We won’t look into
here who was the best President but we will discuss some of the current ground
scenarios regarding the presidential election.
The election process has many flaws. If the likes of Lalu
Prasad and Mamta Bannerjee dictate the terms of the presidential candidates
then the system surely is faulty and needs a revamp. Also the President is
elected by a secret vote cast by our elected representatives ( It includes all
the MLAs and the MPs). The voting power of an MLA from a region with more
population will be greater than those from smaller states. I believed this
system in itself is flawed and needs to be looked into. The MLAs of the larger
states are already compensated as they have more members then why do MLAs from
smaller states have less voting powers. Also considering that there are more
MLAs than MPs MLAs voting scores can be reduced in accordance with their
number.
Now let’s look into the selected nominees. Pranab Mukherjee
and Hamid Ansari are the front runners for the coveted post. I have always
argued that a politician should not be elected as President. This is justified
by the numerous conflicts between governors nominated by the central government
(usually people from their own party) and states where there is a government by
the opposition. I believe that currently we can give former President APJ Abdul
Kalam an extended term for the top job. He is a man with vision and someone who
is widely respected by all.
Lastly the main issues of regional parties having a larger
say in the Presidential elections have diluted the significance of the election
process. Do we really want Lalu Prasad or Mamta Bannerjee or even Jayalalitha
deciding our next President? Regional parties are bound by regional issues and
regional politics. They don’t see the larger national picture. Also instead of
the MLAs and MPs blindly following the party diktat a consensus can be arrived
among the elected representatives to choose the Head of the Nation.
But as we all know it is easier said than done. However we
all do agree that we definitely need a change in the process.
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