Presidential Poll: Janpath to Rajpath

The race for the presidential election is in full swing. The ruling party as well as the opposition have declared their candidates. The ruling NDA alliance has used this nomination itself to strengthen their claim Sab ka Sath, Sab ka Vikas. Present president Shri Ramnath Kovind represents scheduled castes while the new nomination, Smt Draupadi Murmu, belongs to the scheduled tribe category. Notwithstanding their identity, they have proved themselves to be

It is a sheer coincidence that both the candidates this time are from the same belt and same party (one being a current member while the other being an ex-BJP member) yet they represent very different upbringings altogether. Even though this election will not depend on public perception, this article will examine these issues in detail.

The opposition acted hastily, here they first leaked the name and approached the candidates later, as a result, three of the chosen ones refused to accept the offer. The present nominee became the choice by rejection, not by selection. On the other hand, NDA waited for the opposition to act first. It allowed selectors to match or outsmart the candidate nominated by the opposition.

The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, has called it a proud moment for Odisha which again reminds of Sabka Sath, as Odisha CM is not part of NDA and it brings in the desired support in terms of numbers, it is expected many others will find it difficult to oppose NDA candidate despite being in opposition.

Shri Yashwant Sinha has an urban upbringing. He has achieved success by being an IAS and as a parliamentarian. He has been a minister many times in the Central Government. He left BJP in 2018 spent some time exploring his options with AAP and finally became vice-president of TMC. In the past few years, Shri Sinha was quite vocal in criticising the Central Government. This trait might be the only reason for the opposition parties to agree unanimously on his nomination despite being a long-term BJP veteran.

Smt Draupadi Murmu comes from a village background and has to work against all odds, worked as a clerk till 1997 then became a councillor in 1997. She got elected as MLA from 2000 to 2009. She won the Neelkanth Award for best MLA competing with members coming from much better sections of society. Worked as a minister in a coalition. The most notable is being the only Governor of Jharkhand who could complete the full term of six years that too without any controversy.

One can see that neither being a villager nor being poor could stop her from rising on a merit basis. Her instinct to serve, led her to work as an assistant professor on an honorary basis.

The impact factor

Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar says: “He (the president) is the head of the state but not of the Executive. He represents the Nation but does not rule the Nation. He is the symbol of the Nation. His place in the administration is that of a ceremonial device on a seal by which the nation’s decisions are made known.”

The phrase ‘symbol of the nation’ means a lot. When Dr Rajendra Prasad occupied the Rashtrapati Bhavan, he was connected to the common man, literary dignitaries were welcome. Dr S Radhakrishnan connected with students. In due course, the trend deteriorated, ‘yes men’ were preferred over people of competence. Failing to do so led to the defeat of the ruling party candidate, the late Neelam Sanjiv Reddy. As a result, people were eager to do things below dignity to reach this coveted position, on the other hand, many times nomination to this post was used to eliminate competition. Shri Gopal Krishna Gandhi once wrote: “Over the years, the ceremony of the President’s induction has become a rite of repetitive passage where courtesy is apparent but zest missing, regard is patent but enthusiasm deficient. Regalia is one thing, rapture another. Splendour is one thing, spirit another. A piece of skillful choreography is one thing, a soulful ceremony quite another.”

Dr. APJ Kalam restored the dignity: he took it upon himself the task to motivate young minds to develop a scientific approach, connected with the youth. He became a youth icon of India, his book ‘Wings of Fire’ gave India dreams which were seen with open eyes, that is the power of symbol for India and its people.

The incumbent President has kept the trend going.

Smt Draupadi Murmu has many firsts to her credit — the first tribal woman to aspire for this office. She has seen poverty, she has overcome the challenges and she has climbed her way up with competence. She has worked as the Governor. She has successfully managed an office for the full term which has been mostly in conflict with its counterpart. At 64, she will be the youngest president improving the record of late Neelam Sanjiv Reddy by a month or so.

Historical Significance

Smt Murmu hails from a community of brave men and women who refused to submit to the British hegemony. When several kings and nawabs preferred to surrender or forged alliances with the British, it was our Vanvasi brothers and sisters who fought against this exploitation despite neither having the strategy nor the resources.

It was under the leadership of the two Murmu brothers, namely Sidhu and Kanhu, that roughly 60,000 Vanvasi of Santhal Parganas fought valiantly much before our freedom movement of 1857. Incidentally, it was the month of June. More than 10,000 people died. The bravery and simplicity of these warriors created a great sense of guilt in the winning army.

Major Jervis LSSO Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers, Santal Parganas, writes: “It was not war; they did not understand yielding. As long as their national drum beat, the whole party would stand, and allow themselves to be shot down. Their arrows often killed our men, and so we had to fire on them as long as they stood. When their drum ceased, they would move off a quarter of a mile; then their drums beat again, and they calmly stood till we came up and poured a few volleys into them. There was not a sepoy in the war who did not feel ashamed of himself.” Over and above these people maintained dignity and human values during the war, for them, everything was not fair.

“There seems also to be a sentiment of honour among them; for it is said that they use poisoned arrows in hunting, but never against their foes. If this be the case and we hear nothing of the poisoned arrows in the recent conflicts, they are infinitely more respectable than our civilized enemy, the Russians, who would most likely consider such forbearance as foolish, and declare that is not war.” (Dickens, Charles (1850–1859). Household Words Vol 12. University of Buckingham. London: Bradbury & Evans. p. 349)

The present-day politicians can learn how to remain graceful in a war of words. This great sacrifice was dumped and forgotten; a simple nomination has brought it back in limelight. Whole social media is praising the Santhal rebellion of 1855, this is what I wrote at the beginning of this article. It is not enough to praise the contributions at the time of election only, a sincere and permanent approach can lead to ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas.

Late Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj once wrote in his famous poem ‘e Bhai Jara Dekh Ke Chalo’ (Oh, brother please walk carefully because you are walking on kings way (Rajpath), he ended his poem, “a time will come when this Kingsway will become people’s way (Janpath) actual Hindi words are very powerful,’ Ek Waqt Aisa Bhi Ayega Jab Rajpath Janpath Ban Jayega’. Hope Smt Murmu will be the torch bearer.