Kaun Banega Next Prez

[Guest]

Fortuitous visit
PRATIBHA PATIL’S name was included in the Congress’s ‘C’ list of prospective candidates as an afterthought. While preparing a list of woman nominees, in case the Left rejected the Congress’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ lists, the Rajasthan Governor’s name sprang to mind largely because she had just visited Delhi in connection with the Gurjjar violence in the state.

Patil’s resume looks more impressive on paper than in actuality. Her brief period as deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as prime minister is cited to show that she is experienced in handling a legislature. But old-timers in Parliament recall that she officiated in the upper house for little over a year before Rajiv Gandhi removed her and brought back Najma Hepatulla. Patil was unable to keep the Opposition MPs in line when the Bofors scandal erupted. After that she was appointed president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. A prominent Congress leader from the state now supporting her candidature vigorously had remarked at that time, “Why is this liability being thrust on us.”

Indispensable or dispensable

A supporter of Pranab Mukherjee noted bitterly that it took six weeks to come to the conclusion that Mukherjee was not the right name for the president’s post and six minutes to agree on Pratibha Patil’s name. If Mukherjee was so indispensable to the government, how come he wasn’t made prime minister, he wonders. Pratibha Patil was such a dark horse that a DMK leader even asked innocently whether she was the wife of Shivraj Patil when he was first told her name.