Since none of the golden oldies has won the battle for Rashtrapati Bhavan, you wonder now how far-reaching the post-presidential election reshuffle will be. The government, therefore, will continue to not only look tired, but tire even more, with the limelight for any good being done cornered by ministers from the allies. This cabinet needs a generational shift. And what the Congress needs right now is not a mere reshuffle. It needs a new Kamraj Plan. It has to send its veterans back to the organisation, into the Raj Bhavans and, better still, into total retirement — something they richly deserve.

Postscript: Since we are talking of the presidency, I cannot help recounting a delightful story the former prime minister, I.K. Gujral, tells about the time Indira Gandhi sent him to ask Zakir Husain if he would accept the office of rashtrapati. He recalls that when he walked into Zakir Sahib’s office in Parliament, he asked him to sit down, and even before he could open his mouth, said, in Urdu: “I know why you have come. If you have come to ask me to stay on in the same chair (the vice-president’s) for five more years, then I am not so weak as to not be able to say no to you. If you have come to ask if I’d like to move into Rashtrapati Bhavan, I am not so strong as to be able to say no to you.” A big laugh, a brilliant line, and the issue was settled. My apologies to Gujral for stealing this now, but you will find this and many other such delightful stories in the memoirs he is now writing.

... contd.