Race to Raisina Hill

The NDA is in pole position, but the opposition can test a potential joint front for 2024

- PRATUL SHARMA

NUMBERS DICTATE CHOICES. In July 2002, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam became a bipartisan choice for president as the ruling Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance did not have enough votes to get anyone from its ideological family elected. Fifteen years later, the NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was much better placed, yet it tried for a consensus pick.

Though there was no consensus, the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind got the support of friendly regional parties. This year, the NDA will again need support from regional parties to get its choice elected as the 15th president of India. It may make an effort towards consensus, though it is likely to be dismissed as tokenism by the opposition.

President Kovind will complete his tenure on July 24. A president who often insisted on following constitutional morality, Kovind has had a successful and controversy-free tenure, so far. He made 29 foreign visits till December and rejected all seven mercy petitions that came before him. The official website says that he has discharged his duties with “foresight and humility”.

Kovind was a surprise pick, but fit well into the BJP’s outreach to dalits. He was only the second dalit to occupy the post after K.R. Narayanan. There is already much discussion regarding whether Kovind will get the NDA’s backing for a second term. Given Modi’s style of secrecy, no one is willing to guess. In fact, in 2017, in an informal setting, then BJP chief Amit Shah had teased journalists about how none of them could guess Kovind’s name before he was picked.