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Kalam's 'no'

The last act crowns the play, so said Francis Quarles. In President Kalam's case, his last act of stepping into the snare laid out by the Third Front and hinting at a conditional willingness to contest for a second term seems to have uncrowned him. The reputation, love, and admiration he gained in the last five years seem to have collapsed overnight. But considering the enormous pressure he has been subjected to, let us give a graceful farewell to the people’s President, who will certainly be more at home outside, rather than within, the golden cage of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Gulnar Khan,
Chennai

It is unfortunate that Mr. Kalam’s exit is not a very happy one, thanks to the politicisation of the presidential election. All former Presidents who were willing to serve a second term have had a similar experience. It would be better for our lawmakers to legitimise the no-second-term convention by amending the Constitution.

B. Jayanna Krupakar,
Bellary

By opting out of the contest, Mr. Kalam has in fact stepped back from the brink of a political cesspool. He was dragged towards it by a set of discredited political have-beens who were using the President as a pawn in their game of political one-upmanship to spite the UPA’s consensus choice of Ms. Patil. Mr. Kalam’s firm ‘no’ should remove all the disappointment of his fans when he seemed to vacillate on the UNPA’s proposal. One hopes it will also put an end to any further criticism of him.

Shahabuddin Nadeem,
Bangalore

Mr. Kalam only expressed his desire to contest if there was certainty of victory. Notwithstanding the controversy, he will be remembered as a people's President and an inspiration to the country's children and youth.

Akhil Kumar,
New Delhi

Instead of bluntly saying ‘no’ to the UNPA leaders, Mr. Kalam appears to have imposed the “certainty” condition. He surely knows his arithmetic and must have been more than certain that the UNPA would not be able to muster the required numbers. The whole country knows Mr. Kalam was not for a second term. Unfortunately the issue has been blown out of proportion.

A. David Raj,
Chennai

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