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| Will Arjun Singh be next Vice-President ? | | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, May 6:
Jailed Kashmiri militant, Afzal Guru, has, for no fault of the present President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, got linked to the on-going talk in some political circles in support of the latter's continuance in Rashtrapati Bhavan after the completion of his five-year tenure in July next. The link appears to have been brought about by several Muslim members of Parliament and their co-religionists in some State Assemblies.
Afzal Guru, who has been awarded death sentence for his "invlvement" in the 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament House, is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, anxiously awaiting government's decision on his mercy petition already submitted to President Kalam. Several Muslim MPs have, beyond the expectations of the average Indian, reportedly launched a 'subtle' drive in support of Afzal Guru's mercy petition. These MPs do not, according to observers, want Afzal Guru to be hanged.
In the process, these MPs and a number of their co-religionists in some State Assemblies have been reported by these observers to have taken the stand to oppose APJ Abdul Kalam's second term as President of India if he rejected Afzal Guru's mercy petition. On the other hand, many Hindu MPs and legislators have reportedly posed: "How will we support Kalam's candidature if he commutes Afzal Guru's death sentrence?"
And, at the same time, a message seems to have been sent out by Guru's sympathisers, making it clear that if President Kalam rejects Afzal's mercy petition, he would alienate Muslim legislators in Parliament and Assemblies. These sympathisers obviously know that the electoral college that elects the President comprises elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. Hence, Muslim legislators have reasons to be assertive.
Is the President eligible for election for a second term? According to Article 57 of the Constituion, a President is eligible for re-election to that office. India has had 10 Presidents of whom Dr Rajendra Prasad was the only one to get a second term.
Present Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, is slated to retire in August this year. Who will take his place? Sources in the governing Congress party say that Arjun Singh, currently Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD), has emerged as the frontrunner for the Vice-President's post. Arjun Singh is said to be well placed compared to some potential rivals for the post.
Incidentally, Arjun Singh's name had been doing the rounds earlier as a possible candidate for the President's post. In the altered scenario, the Congress, which heads the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre, has made up its mind to stake claim to the Vice-President's post, realising it may not be in a position to push the candidature of one of its members as President. Arjun Singh dropped broad hints about his inclination to become the Vice-President two days ago when, in response to a question on whether he would be a candidate for the coveted post, he remarked that he would accept the party's decision.
The Left parties, which provide crucial outside support to the UPA government, have discreetly floated the name of the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, to become India's first Marxist President. The ruling Congress is bound to have its member occupy one of the top constitutional posts. Right now Congres has none, as the incumbent President was the erstwhile ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party's choice while Shekhawat was a member of the BJP until his election. The Lok Sabha Speaker is a Left Party nominee.
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