The suspense over names in the Vice Presidential poll is over. The candidates have their statures, no doubt, though there’s merit in the contention their profiles might not match up with those of the high-profile men who occupied that august office in the past. Those individuals had raised the bar.
Their resolves were steeled in the fires of the Independence movement. These here are different times, and those who get elected to such offices might strengthen their profiles while in office by way of the good work they do, that is, if they wish to. Admittedly, while the President is primarily an ornamental post, the Vice President, on the other hand, has always had ample scope to create an image for himself as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
Voting for the Presidential poll over, and the fate of the candidates sealed in ballot boxes till 20 July when counting takes place, focus now shifts to the Vice Presidential poll. The line-up will not be the same for the VP poll, as is clear from the stand the Biju Janata Dal has taken Tuesday.
According to the announcement by Chief Minister and Party supremo Naveen Patnaik, the ruling party in Orissa would put its weight behind Gopal Krishna Gandhi, the Left-UPA nominee. On a lighter vein it can be claimed the chief minister has walked the talk. His party and government are famously maintaining a policy of equi-distance with the two national political alliances, namely the UPA and the NDA.
BJD backed the NDA nominee for President, Ram Nath Kovind. It now is time for the chief minister and his party to prove they do walk the talk. The BJD backing Gopal Krishna Gandhi is seen in this light. BJD’s policy has been to put the state’s interests first while fashioning its political stands. In a scenario where UPA and NDA call the shots alternately or otherwise, this policy has kept the state in good stead.
A sense of realism and pragmatism ruled the BJD’s thinking. It cooperated with the UPA when it was in power, and it is doing so when the NDA is in government at the Centre. BJD has shown that cooperation, not confrontation, is the way forward in strengthening Centre-State relations.
The ultimate aim is to promote the interests of the state, a cause which the BJD obviously considers to be of highest priority. Maybe it’s time other parties, too, learn from this practice — of cooperation with respect for each other rather than confrontation. This kind of cooperation cannot be mistaken for bootlicking under any circumstance.
It is true that when considered from all angles, with the kind of backing the ruling NDA has managed to garner, there is the feeling it will have its candidates elected to both the two top offices of this country.
The election to the President on July 17 saw members of the two Houses of the Parliament and those of the state assemblies lining up to cast their votes with eagerness. That result will be declared on July 20.
Now begins the race for the Vice President. Both Gopal Krishna Gandhi of the UPA and M Venkaiah Naidu of the NDA have filed their nomination papers Tuesday, taking the process to the next stage, when a round of campaigning unfolds.
The electorate for the VP post is limited to the two Houses of Parliament while state Assemblies, unlike the President’s election, are not involved. With two vacancies in each, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, their total voting strength now is 786 out of the total 790.
BJD has a strength of 20 in the Lok Sabha and 9 in the Rajya Sabha. Of this, voting will be done by 28 members, as the jailed Mayurbhanj MP is out of the picture.
While the BJD’s MPs — as also its state legislators — sided with the NDA last time, these MPs will vote for the UPA this time. This will prove Naveen’s slogan of maintaining equidistance from both national level political blocs operating in the country. Whether other parties too might vote differently or not does not seem to be a concern for the regional outfit. As for results, although the NDA seems to have a clear lead, the symbolism is not lost on anyone.
Tight circle
One chief malady that has afflicted the Congress in recent years is its inability to produce leaders to replace or back up the old guard. The BJP appears to be facing the same crisis already. Union minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari had in response to a journalist’s query at a television programme sometime back said: “[BJP] will take a while to adopt the mentality of a ruling party. It has been in the opposition for so long that the party is yet to find its bearings on the treasury benches.” Although the minister had said this in a lighter vein, there appears to be truth in his statement.
The nomination of Union Minister for Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu as its Vice-Presidential candidate for the country is a case in point. Conjectures about reasons for Naidu’s nomination abound. They range from him being rewarded for loyalty to PM Modi to it being a north-south balancing act.
But the factor that needs to be noted is that the portfolios he handled have been handed over to Textiles Minister Smriti Irani (I&B) and Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar (Urban Development). A similar situation had arisen with the exit of Manohar Parikkar from South Block.
Till date, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is holding the additional portfolio of Defence, even as the border crisis escalates dangerously, just short of a war with military heavy China. Although the ministries Naidu had headed may not be in the same league as Defence, the apparent ‘absence’ of leaders to take charge in the event of the exit is striking, particularly as the incumbent government is said to enjoy favourable demographics.
A study based on available data had shown that the number of BJP parliamentarians above the age of 70 has declined from 14.2 per cent in the 15th Lok Sabha to 8.8 per cent at present and that MPs aged 25 to 40 have increased from 5.8 per cent to 7.8 per cent. The Congress was headed the other way on the same count. The time is ripe for the BJP to test the abilities of fresh faces in the party in the corridors of power.
One of the key promises on which the BJP rode to power was that it was not for favouritism or nepotism. In the given context, the party has to consider trusting and bringing in new faces into ministries to give them the opportunity to prove their abilities and train for the future.
When existing ministers are given additional responsibilities, it would take their attention away from their original assignment. It could also delay processes or programmes that a minister may have initiated. The BJP government might be reeling under a trust deficit situation, which could be why the leadership refuses to introduce newer faces in the Cabinet, burdening existing ministers with more portfolios.
The BJP would have done better, then, to have chosen a person outside the Cabinet for Vice-Presidential election instead. Or maybe, the case is that the inner circle is getting too tight for comfort.