Being Truly Presidential

21st-century India needs a president who will be democracy's conscience keeper

- Sagarika Ghose

It is almost inevitable that BJP-led NDA will have the determining choice on who finally becomes president. But we may ask the question: Who will be the ideal president for 21st-century India?

The answer is: In times when democracy is in retreat across the world, the ideal president is someone who will stand as democracy's conscience keeper.

Past presidents fit into three broad groups: 1) Presidents of stature: who had formidable personal achievement before entering the office. 2) Political presidents: who had political backgrounds and, as former legislators, were well-versed in the Constitution. 3) "Rubber stamp" or "loyalist" presidents: who are stand-ins of the governing political executive.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan best exemplifies presidents of stature, a magisterial scholar who served in top global universities and authored several classic books. Another example is Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, regarded as the father of India's nuclear weapons programme. KR Narayanan, distinguished former diplomat was also of high stature, and jousted th the Vajpayee government on occasion. Yet high-stature presidents are not untouched by controversy. In 2005, Kalam chose a less than constitutional path when he signed a late-night order dissolving the Bihar assembly while in Moscow.