Now, when was the last time you heard that about a presidential certainty? Sure, there were choices in the past you heard doubts about. Giani Zail Singh, but you know the political value of that choice in the Bhindranwale phase. A total non-politician like Kalam, but he already had near iconic status as a scientist and, once again, the symbolism of that choice in the wake of Gujarat was not lost on anybody. But when was the last time you were presented with a complete unknown as your next president? Kalam, Zail Singh, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, V.V. Giri, Sanjeeva Reddy were all people you had seen long enough in public life, so you were unlikely to discover any surprises about them. This is where the Congress went wrong with Pratibha Patil.

THE Congress’s guilt is not so much about who they chose for the job as it is about how it trivialised that job, to begin with. From day one, you knew, it did not have a candidate in mind, except that it wouldn’t give Kalam a second term and won’t accept Shekhawat, however much he may have been respected for his non-partisan handling of the Upper House. The party then saw a truly embarrassing spectacle of so many of its senior leaders canvassing for the top job, almost standing outside Left leaders’ homes with their CVs. And when all its chosen candidates had been rejected by the Left, after its home minister had been publicly humiliated and his secular commitment questioned, it produced Pratibha Patil.

... contd.