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Amidst all the hooplah over who will be the candidate for the next President on NDTV, I munch over my dinner. Hmm, the Chicken Tandoori is excellent, the Mackerel fry is good and the Ridge gourd ... not so good.
UPA has nominated Pratibha Patil (Who? - Thats right, that was my first reaction too). The NDA earlier stated that they'd nominate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and then turned their stance to "Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam if UPA also votes for him". Some new alliance called UNPA (Not to be confused with the already in power, UPA) also says " Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam". The Left, rightly or wrongly, says "No A.P.J. Abdul Kalam". A.P.J. Abdul Kalam says "No second term". And I am as confused as an airborne pigeon seeing superman flying next to it.
I am not political. Why bother with all this, I think. For me, it would'nt make any world of difference who would be the next President. The Prime Minister, yes, as he is in a position to influence the country's policies. But what does the President do? Sign the Bills, attend to dignitaries of other countries or if time permits, take a stroll on the large gardens of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan? In fact following are some of the items in the "To-Do" list of the President of India:
1. Appoint the Prime Minister (Really?, wonder how much "say" he has in this)
2. Appoint other "Screws" in the large government machine (i.e the Governer, the Chief Justice, Judges of supreme Courts and High Courts etc. - which in reality are selected by the Union Cabinet - talk about delegation!)
3. "Be" the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces (tough job, eh?)
4. Reduce sentence or grant pardon (Hardly ever excercised)
5. Remove the Prime Minister (Would anyone dare?)
6. Summon Houses, Dissolve Lok Sabha (subject to advice of guess who? - the council of ministers)
7. Declare Emergency (Not enough water, Not enough power, millions of hungry, poor people - If this aint emergency then what is???)
8. Blah-blah
9. Blah-blah
One other power, rarely used is to reject some of the stupid mindless laws passed by the Parliament for reconsideration. Not much of a "power" considering that it cannot be rejected again if it comes back to the President. For a country which names its Acts as "Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914", "Epidemic Diseases Act", "Anti-Hijacking Act","Cattle-trespass Act ", "Identification of Prisoners Act", one would think that the bills would be returned time and again just to put in a better name. But even then, I am surprised that this has been done only twice in the past. Once by Dr. Zail Singh and once by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Two presidents who seem to have been doing their job. Thats why, I would prefer if the latter gets re-elected, though again, at the cost of repetition I state, It does not matter to me.
PS. If you would like to show your support for Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, please visit http://www.getkalamback.com/
I do not know how far it will be helpful, but it sure seems worth a few clicks and two minutes.
UPA has nominated Pratibha Patil (Who? - Thats right, that was my first reaction too). The NDA earlier stated that they'd nominate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and then turned their stance to "Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam if UPA also votes for him". Some new alliance called UNPA (Not to be confused with the already in power, UPA) also says " Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam". The Left, rightly or wrongly, says "No A.P.J. Abdul Kalam". A.P.J. Abdul Kalam says "No second term". And I am as confused as an airborne pigeon seeing superman flying next to it.
I am not political. Why bother with all this, I think. For me, it would'nt make any world of difference who would be the next President. The Prime Minister, yes, as he is in a position to influence the country's policies. But what does the President do? Sign the Bills, attend to dignitaries of other countries or if time permits, take a stroll on the large gardens of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan? In fact following are some of the items in the "To-Do" list of the President of India:
1. Appoint the Prime Minister (Really?, wonder how much "say" he has in this)
2. Appoint other "Screws" in the large government machine (i.e the Governer, the Chief Justice, Judges of supreme Courts and High Courts etc. - which in reality are selected by the Union Cabinet - talk about delegation!)
3. "Be" the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces (tough job, eh?)
4. Reduce sentence or grant pardon (Hardly ever excercised)
5. Remove the Prime Minister (Would anyone dare?)
6. Summon Houses, Dissolve Lok Sabha (subject to advice of guess who? - the council of ministers)
7. Declare Emergency (Not enough water, Not enough power, millions of hungry, poor people - If this aint emergency then what is???)
8. Blah-blah
9. Blah-blah
One other power, rarely used is to reject some of the stupid mindless laws passed by the Parliament for reconsideration. Not much of a "power" considering that it cannot be rejected again if it comes back to the President. For a country which names its Acts as "Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914", "Epidemic Diseases Act", "Anti-Hijacking Act","Cattle-trespass Act ", "Identification of Prisoners Act", one would think that the bills would be returned time and again just to put in a better name. But even then, I am surprised that this has been done only twice in the past. Once by Dr. Zail Singh and once by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Two presidents who seem to have been doing their job. Thats why, I would prefer if the latter gets re-elected, though again, at the cost of repetition I state, It does not matter to me.
PS. If you would like to show your support for Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, please visit http://www.getkalamback.com/
I do not know how far it will be helpful, but it sure seems worth a few clicks and two minutes.
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