The might of Raisina Hill

It is instructive to recall how past presidents have interpreted and exercised their power

With the election of the next occupant of Rashtrapati Bhavan hardly two months away, the office of the president is in the news. It would be instructive to recall how presidents have interpreted and exercised their power during the last six decades and more. The president has some crucial powers and constitutional responsibilities that he has to exercise on his own. In case no party or coalition commands a clear majority support in the House, the president has to use his judgement to decide whom to call to form the government. This happened, for instance, when Charan Singh, Rajiv Gandhi, Chandra Shekhar, Deve Gowda, I.K. Gujral and Atal Bihari Vajpayee became prime minister.

However, there has been a sustained and systematic effort to underrate, undermine and even denigrate the presidency. While revisiting our polity at work over the last 60 years, we should restore a more balanced perspective on the role of our presidents in preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution.

The first president, Rajendra Prasad, asserted his will against PM Jawaharlal Nehru on the issue of the Hindu Code Bill. Later, he sought the opinion of the attorney general, M.C. Setalvad, in the matter of the constitutional position of the president. In October 1950, Setalvad opined that the president had the right to dismiss the ministry and dissolve Parliament. But Setalvad later revised his opinion, and in his September 1951 note to Nehru, he said that the powers of the president can be exercised by him only with the aid and advice of his ministers, and he could dismiss a minister but not a council of ministers enjoying the confidence of the House. During his second term in office, Prasad revived the controversy regarding the president's powers by referring to the contents of Articles 74 and 75 of the Constitution and raising questions. Despite these differences, Nehru and Prasad understood each other. Both were prepared to yield, compromise and cooperate. It was not a question of their personal prestige being at stake; through those conflicts, the nature of our polity was being determined.

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