Narayanan Consensus Candidate For President

Vice-president K R Narayanan is to be the next President of India. The Congress and the United Front yesterday agreed to back him as their joint candidate. The decision was taken after a meeting between Congress President Sitaram Kesri and United Front convenor Chandrababu Naidu.

That meeting followed separate meetings of the United Front steering committee, which decided to back Narayanans candidature, and the Congress Working Committee, which authorised Kesri to decide on behalf of the party.

With the backing of two of the major blocs in the electoral college, which is almost equally divided between the BJP, the UF and the Congress, Narayanans elevation is assured. The college comprises all MPs and all state MLAs. The votes of all the MPs have as much weight as that of all the MLAs together.

 

The BJP has not made a formal decision. It has indicated that it is willing to back Narayanan but wants the UF and the Congress to back its nominee, probably Sikander Bakht, to be the vice-president.

The United Front and the Congress have not linked their nominations for the two offices. Many front leaders and sections of the Congress are likely to back the current frontrunner, Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Najma Heptulla.

The way was cleared for Narayanans candidature after former prime minister HD Deve Gowda clarified at the steering committee meeting that he was not a candidate. His name had been suggested by Karnataka Chief Minister JH Patel.

Naidu announced last night that the steering committee had unanimously backed Narayanans candidature. He said that he had met Kesri after that and that the Congress too had decided to back Narayanan.

By getting the CWC to authorise him to take the decision, after one-to-one discussions with CWC members, Kesri projected his role as pivotal. Plus, some senior Congress leaders said, he had decided to hold back any announcement of the Congress decision so that any differences in the UF, over Gowdas candidature, could have full play.

Narayanan was the frontrunner, not only because the majority of vice-presidents have been elevated to the highest constitutional office, but also because of his Dalit antecedants and outstanding record. Narayanan, 77, has had a distinguished career as a diplomat and academic. He was vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indias ambassador to China and a Congress Lok Sabha MP from his home state, Kerala, before he became the vice-president.

The Forum of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe MPs had agitated strongly five years ago for a Dalit to be made President. As a compromise, Narayanan was then made the consensus choice for vice-president with the informal assurance from major political parties leaders that he would be elevated in this round.

This year, the forums lobbying was less pointed. Under Congress leader G Venkatswamy, it first resolved that a Dalit freedom fighter should be the next president. That would have ruled out Narayanan but, after Congress leader M Hanumanthappa took a strong stand, the forum changed that resolution.