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| ***Kaun Banega Rashtrapati?*** | | Kalam to vacate Rashtrapati Bhawan in Jull Will Amitabh Bachhan contest presidential poll? | | NEW DELHI, FEB. 16:
If murmurs in the political circles were to be believed, the Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan, is likely to contest the presidential election. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Bachchan's name is doing the rounds among the probable candidates for India's highest constitutional position.
Present incumbent in Rashtrapati Bhawan, APJ Kalam, is understood to have decided to vacate the office in July this year at the end of his five-year term. Amitabh Bachchan, popularly known as 'Big B', continues to enjoy confidence and cooperation of the Samajwadi Party headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Blame it on his friends like Amar Singh of Samajwadi Party, Big B is neither in a position to confirm nor deny the talk. In the midst of hectic parleys that have begun to select President Kalam’s successor, political parties, especially leaders from Samajwadi Party, feel the time has come to propose Big B’s name for the President’s job.
Even former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s Tel;ugu Desam Party (TDP) is believed to be backing the move. TDP leaders feel Big B can be a ‘fantastic President’. Being a non-political person, he can very well motivate the youth as the President of India, believes TDP.
In fact, smaller political parties like the AIADMK and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) too are hoping that Bachchan contests the poll. However, the news, yet unconfirmed, has left the ruling coalition's Congress party stunned. "No way", said Congress spokesman Abhiskek Singhvi, reacting to the talk. "India has a greater future than having film stars as Presidents", he commented. “Thankfully, the likes of Chandrababu and Amar Singh do not decide who our President is going to be", Singhvi fumed.
The reaction of the Congress party, on whose ticket Amitabh Bachchan was once elected as a member of Parliament, is along expected lines. After all, Congress’ all-powerful Gandhi family has apparently shut the doors on Bachchan forever. And to add salt to Congress party's injury, Amitabh Bachchan and his family are seen publicly in the company of their rivals, Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministe, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and his associates.
However, when a TV news channel contacted Mulayam Yadav to confirm about the move, he retorted: “You should not put such nonsensical questions to me”. Even Bachchan’s omnipresent "family man" Amar Singh was non-committal: “You can go ahead and say anything... make Amitabh Bachchan a PM or President. Big B is like a kite. Let us see how far he can fly...”
The hint, however, came from Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha member, Shahid Siddiqui, a Muslim intellectual: “We will support Mr Bachchan’s name for Presidentship”, he stated. The Bharatiya Janata Party reacted cautiously, saying they will support the candidate who they think is right. BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the time had not yet come to talk about the names of candidates.
The prominent names doing the rounds for presidentship are of Congress leaders, Karan Singh and Sushil Kumar Shinde, Vice President of India, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, among others.
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