Abdul Kalam
India’s Twelfth President
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Abdul
Kalam, India's new president
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By
Danish A. Khan, IOL South Asia Bureau
NEW
DELHI, July 18 (IslamOnline) - APJ Abdul Kalam was declared elected as
the next President of the Republic of India Thursday, July 18, after a
resounding win against his only rival Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal. Abdul
Kalam’s election to the post was announced today by an Election
Commission official.
Abdul
Kalam recorded an impressive victory of over 800,000 votes. Counting
of votes for the election, held July 15, began at 1100 hours in
Parliament House in New Delhi, where ballot boxes had been kept after
being brought from state capitals and Union Territories where
legislators had exercised their franchise.
Winning
the presidential elections for Abdul Kalam had remained a mere
formality ever since the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and
key opposition parties like the Congress and others jointly fielded
him as their candidate. Only left parties and Janata Dal (secular)
opposed Abdul Kalam and put up the legendary freedom-fighter Captain
Lakshmi Sahgal as their candidate.
Captain
Sahgal had fought against the British colonial power under Subhash
Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. She is a physician based in
Kanpur. She is also an active women’s rights activist. Sahgal was
the first woman candidate to stand for presidential election in India.
Abdul
Kalam’s choice was briefly marred by a political acrimony. Another
presidential probable PC Alexander, then governor of the western state
of Maharashtra, who also belonged to a minority (Christian) community,
was dumped in his favor.
Unexpectedly,
a person belonging to the minority Muslim community was chosen to
replace a candidate from another minority community. Political
observers claim that Kalam’s choice was to assuage the hurt feelings
of Muslims in the wake of the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat and to
whitewash India's sullied image.
Indian
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, leader of the opposition Sonia
Gandhi and cabinet ministers were the first ones to cast their ballot
Monday, July 15, at Parliament House.
Janata
Dal MLA in Delhi Legislative Assembly, Shoaib Iqbal, chose to defy his
party position and voted in favor of Dr Abdul Kalam who has been
closely connected with India's rocket and nuclear programs.
“I
feel fantastic. I am facing an election, so I am naturally looking for
victory,” said an enthusiastic Abdul Kalam, when asked by reporters
to express his feelings on the day of the election.
An
electoral college made up of elected members of both houses of
Parliament -- 776 MPs, besides the elected members of all legislative
assemblies in the states -- 4120 MLAs, elects the President.
Altogether 4896 voters, about 90 percent of the members of the
electoral college, exercised their franchise in the election.
A
particular aspect in the presidential polls is that all the voters are
not at par with each other. The vote of MLAs from less populated
constituencies counts less than that of MLAs from larger
constituencies. In Uttar Pradesh, the most densely populated Indian
state, an MLA’s vote value was fixed at 208, whereas that of a
Kerala MLA was 152, a Haryana MLA’s at 112, a Delhi MLA’s at 58
and the least value was that of a Sikkim MLA at 7, taking into account
the inhabitants in the respective regions.
The
value of an MP’s vote was fixed at 708. An MP’s vote is calculated
by dividing the total value of all MLAs’ votes by the number of MPs.
Nicknamed
“Father of Indian missile” APJ Abdul Kalam has been honored with
India’s top civilian award Bharat Ratna (Indian Jewel). He hails
from a poor fishermen's family in the village of Rameshwaram in south
Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
In
India, many see him as a misfit in the world of politics. However,
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman Kasturi Rangan is
not ready to buy this line. He said: “What one should know is that
if you can master the technologies related to missiles or rocket
operating satellites, which are some of the most complex systems that
the mind has to grapple with, the Constitutional approach is well
within your reach.”
Abdul
Kalam claims that he is not averse to making a change as this has
always happened with him. He said: “My mission is to teach 100,000
people. I am going to talk with them in two years. Change is my job. I
change a number of times. Every time I change, I enrich myself and my
colleagues.”
The
present president KR Narayanan is to leave office July 24 and APJ
Abdul Kalam would be sworn in as the Republic’s 12th President on
July 25.
Meanwhile,
the ruling NDA announced Wednesday, July 17, that senior Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Bhairon
Singh Sekhawat would be their candidate for vice-president.
“Most
of the political parties belonging to NDA and those having
representatives in both Houses of Parliament, spoke to Prime Minister
Vajpayee recently, and expressed their support to Shekhawat’s
candidature,” said NDA convener and Defense Minister George
Fernandes, addressing a press conference along with Communications
Minister Pramod Mahajan.
“NDA
allies such as the AIADMK, the DMK, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are supporting the PM’s decision,”
Fernandes said.
The
Opposition parties are still to make their stand clear on the issue.
But there are indications that a keen contest is on the cards during
the vice-president’s election.
Sources
said that names of eminent journalist Kuldip Nayyar and legal luminary
Fali S Nariman were also doing rounds as the likely candidates from
the opposition side.
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