Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

President’s election

The attacks launched by the BJP against the UPA presidential candidate, Pratibha Patil, are in bad taste and deserve to be condemned in the strongest terms. Casting aspersions on Ms. Patil as an afterthought without providing evidence is typical of the sangh parivar’s hate ideology. The BJP should remember that the presidential election is not fought on a party basis. The people are watching the party’s desperate attempts to besmirch the image of a person just because she is the UPA’s candidate. Never before has the country witnessed such acrimony in the run-up to presidential elections. The ‘credit’ for this goes to the BJP and UNPA.

J. Suganthi,
Lalgudi

Never before in the history of presidential election has a contest been a subject of such controversy. It is time the powers that be introduced the system of ‘public audit’ of persons who wish to contest for high posts. With persons of exemplary record becoming rare, such an exercise is an essential pre-requisite.

S.R. Badrinarayanan,
Chennai

There will be general agreement on the views expressed in the editorial "An unpleasant surprise" (June 23). As with every such moment in history, the events of the last few days have revealed the real personalities of people occupying high positions. Union Ministers Lalu Prasad, Sharad Pawar and some other Congress bigwigs did not cover themselves with glory when they reacted to President Abdul Kalam’s willingness to contest in case there was certainty of victory. Their partisan statements betrayed their contempt not only for the highest office but also for the present incumbent, and for all those who are out of politics and for a second term for Mr. Kalam. Though not a surprise, one cannot deny that their reactions were also very unpleasant. For a pleasant contrast, we saw Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat calling on Ms. Patil even as she was planning a visit to his residence, and his declaration that he would withdraw from the presidential contest if and when Mr. Kalam chose to enter the fray. As for the ‘tradition ’ of ‘no second term,’ what is so sacred about it when many traditions of our parliamentary democracy have been thrown to the winds?

K. Vedamurthy,
Chennai

Mr. Kalam's claim that in the five years of his stay in Rashtrapati Bhavan, it has been transformed into a people’s bhavan (June 24) is highly political in nature. He could have saved his image had he called the press meet on the day the UNPA declared his candidature. His statement that the President’s election is not a political process is unconvincing. Did he himself not emerge as a consensus candidate because P.C. Alexander and Krishan Kant did not find favour with both the major national parties? Was it not a political process? Did not the BJP make him the presidential candidate with politics in mind? If the President’s role is not political, why did he take such pains to prove his neutrality in the office of profit issue?

S.T. Daniel,
Tirunelveli

In 1969, the official Congress nominee for President was N. Sanjeeva Reddy. V.V. Giri was Indira Gandhi’s nominee. She exhorted the MPs and MLAs to vote according to their conscience and V.V. Giri became the President. Her illustrious daughter-in-law should also allow UPA legislators to vote according to their conscience.

P.J. Bagilthaya,
Bangalore

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