In his eight months in office, the president has set several precedents. Now K.R. Narayanan seems determined to achieve many more firsts. Ignoring traditions set by his predecessors, he has already expressed his preference for the next occupant of Race Course Road.No doubt, as the first citizen of India, he has the right to exercise his vote, but as President of India, he is expected to be seen, like Caesar's wife, above suspicion. By setting a new example, Narayanan has put a question mark on the political wisdom of illustrious leaders like Rajendra Prasad, S. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain and R. Venkataraman whose tenure at Raisina Hill was worth emulating. Surely, all of them had equally powerful reasons for not voting, even though electoral verdicts during their tenure were more predictable. And with verdicts in those days being quite decisive, they had little option in the selection of the prime minister. Unfortunately, Narayanan is not lucky in that respect. By all accounts, the electorate will not deliver a decisive mandate to any of the three pre-election political formations. And here lies the catch. Narayanan's impeccable track record is his enviable asset. But two weeks from now when he has to decide on the country's next prime minister, his current actions are likely to be used against him by those whose claim he may justifiably choose to reject..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Nevertheless, Narayanan and his Burmaborn wife Usha's decision to stand in a queue with three other voters ahead of them and none behind at a polling booth on the sprawling Rashtrapati Bhavan campus provided an excellent photo opportunity for both electronic and print media. But most amusing was the instant endorsement of their action by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a frontrunner for Race Course Road, and the ubiquitous Manohar Singh Gill, chief election commissioner. Said Vajpayee: "Mr Narayanan has set new standards in public life by breaking with past traditions.'' Other political parties, including the Congress, and scores of hopefuls for prime ministership maintained a subjective silence.When the nation was engaged in electing another government, Narayanan decided to give interviews to private TV channels, and speak on political issues. And if one has to go by bureaucratic explanation, the President has played an active role even in the selection of people for various national awards like the Bharat Ratna.Last week, he decided to confer the Bharat Ratna on 88-year-old C. Subramaniam for his contribution to the green revolution in India. Subramaniam is the 32nd recipient of the award since Independence and the fifth during the short-lived United Front Government's tenure. He is also the second person on whom the Bharat Ratna has been conferred since the Gujral Government resigned and the third from Tamil Nadu to get it. Incidentally, elections in Tamil Nadu are slated for February 22 and 28.Presidential activism, it appears, stems from the fast erosion in the authority of the prime minister and advent of the era of coalition politics. If the survival and effectiveness of the prime minister are tenuously linked to presidential indulgence, it is the President who eventually benefits. If a caretaker government is barred from taking any policy decision which will have a bearing on the voting intentions of the electorate, then conferring a top civil award to a former politician could wait presidential nod for just a couple of weeks. But when the top three constitutional functionaries of the country comprise a Mutual Admiration Club, constitutional conventions can merrily be ignored.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Mar 2, 1998--- ENDS ---
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