Once again the matriarch
has made a mockery of the electoral system, spited a country and its denizens. But
why blame her, it is we who are letting her do it. The highest seat of the
country has always been awarded and not attained by those who merit it, having duly followed
a process as envisaged in the constitution. This time it has been awarded to a
person considered safe and loyal. Coincidentally, the incumbent also happens to
be experienced and capable, but that was of lesser relevance. Though the arithmetic
supports Pranab Mukherjee, it is to be seen if he is elected un-opposed. The
melodrama is on.
As per the constitution,
the President of the country has to be elected by the “elected representatives”
of the Union Parliaments and the State Legislative House(s). Mark this. The
constitution does not even empower / entitle the nominated members of the
Parliament or Legislatures to vote. And here, a matronly widow of an ex-PM
decides on who becomes the president.
Once upon a time, under the
crown, a middling resident commissioner or if you go back further, a petty
clerk of a trading company called the East India company, would decide who
would ascend the throne of a princely state.
With mirthful
contradictions, contortions and back room machinations, the process continues,
with a legitimacy that is imparted to it by a specious interpretation of the
constitution and a cloak of democracy.
A bruised Mamta sulks at
home, spawning a strategy to get even. Mulayam buys peace for his son just
recently in saddle, BJP struggles with internal contradictions to come out in
unison. The electorate meanwhile continues to be cheated and betrayed.
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