THE PRESIDENCY

Seamless shift

32-Ram-Nath-Kovind Smooth ride: President Ram Nath Kovind and outgoing president Pranab Mukherjee in the traditional presidential buggy | PTI

Kovind is likely to be a stickler for constitutional propriety like his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee

As governor of Bihar, Ram Nath Kovind loved to quote former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.” It turned out to be a key theme of his first speech after taking over as the 14th president of India. Kovind spoke about India in the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and RSS ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya. “We need to sculpt a robust, high-growth economy, an educated, ethical and shared community, and an egalitarian society,” he said. “This is the India of our dreams, an India that will provide equality of opportunities.”

Kovind is the first BJP member to move into the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the transition is likely to be a smooth one. The first appointments to Kovind’s staff show that he would receive active support from the prime minister’s office. Retired IAS officer Sanjay Kothari has been appointed as the president’s secretary; Gujarat’s resident commissioner Bharat Lal will be his joint secretary, and journalist Ashok Malik, the press secretary.

Lal was Modi’s point man in Delhi during his days as the chief minister of Gujarat. After becoming prime minister, Modi gave Lal the responsibility to oversee his outreach activities in India and abroad. Malik is well-versed with the articulation required for the first president from the saffron family.

However, little is known about Kovind’s views on key issues. He was nominated by the BJP with an eye on his dalit identity and his clean image. Kovind’s tenure is expected to be free of controversies as he is likely to make informed decisions based on constitutional propriety, just like Mukherjee.

The outgoing president, however, had been forceful on certain issues, such as the debates regarding tolerance, pluralism and dissent. “The soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance,” said Mukherjee. In his farewell speech, he spoke of former prime minister Indira Gandhi as his mentor. “She had the courage to call a spade a spade,” he said. Perhaps, that was what made Mukherjee a supporter of strong governments. He had seen dissent and policy paralysis during the United Progressive Alliance government in which no single party had a majority. Sources said Mukherjee was happy that the BJP government had a majority on its own, helping it tackle governance issues.

When Modi became prime minister, he told Mukherjee that he never had a chance to step inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mukherjee then arranged a guided tour for the new prime minister. His warmth and assistance put Modi at ease. “He [Pranab] was a guardian and a father figure.... He used to guide me, which was a help for a person like me, who had no experience of this kind of office,” said Modi during a farewell function for Mukherjee.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley spoke about how the Modi government worked to resolve its differences with Mukherjee on legislative issues, especially over classifying certain bills as money bills and the promulgation of ordinances. “As president, he was unquestionably the guardian of the Constitution. He realised that in a democracy there could only be one power centre—the elected government and the prime minister. He, therefore, actively associated with two different governments during his presidency with equal ease,” said Jaitley.

In the past, there had been instances of strained relations between presidents and prime ministers, like in the case of Morarji Desai and N. Sanjiva Reddy, Indira Gandhi and Reddy, and Rajiv Gandhi and Zail Singh. Modi never had a problem with Mukherjee. “I was surprised while working with Pranabda. Despite being part of the government for so long, and that, too, in key positions, he never judged or compared my government’s decisions with his past experiences,” said Modi.

Mukherjee’s emphasis as president was on enhancing academic standards in the country and making Rashtrapati Bhavan a cultural hub. As president, he was ‘visitor’ of 126 institutions of higher education, including the Central universities and the IITs, and he started the practice of holding an annual conference of the heads of these institutions.

During his tenure, Mukherjee rejected 30 mercy petitions from convicts on the death row, like Ajmal Kasab, Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon. He commuted death sentences in four cases. He has not left any appeal pending for Kovind. There were only a few occasions when Mukherjee got upset. Sources said it happened when relations between the judiciary and the executive turned sour.

Mukherjee’s love for work, attention to detail and sharp memory are legendary. He made sure there was at least one public function every day at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Though he quit smoking several years ago, he continued to receive pipes as gifts from foreign dignitaries. After his farewell, he donated 500 pipes to the Rashtrapati Bhavan museum, which he helped set up. He loved his food, but kept the portions small. Bengali sweets and hilsa fish were his favourites. Mukherjee, who was earlier seen in bandhgalas and dhoti kurtas, switched to achkan and churidar after he became president, perhaps inspired by Rajendra Prasad, the first president.

As he starts his post-presidency life at 10 Rajaji Marg in Delhi, the house once occupied by Kalam, Mukherjee will be busy writing about his presidential years. Only K.R. Narayanan had penned presidential memoirs before. Mukherjee is also likely to complete his political writings and set up an organisation in his name, which would be dedicated to education, economics and research.

Kovind has moved into the Rashtrapati Bhavan with a message of hope, drawing on the strengths of the past and outlining the opportunities of the future. “The India of the 21st century will be one that is in conformity with our ancient values as well as compliant with the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” he said. “We must combine tradition and technology, the wisdom of an age-old Bharat and the science of a contemporary India.”

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