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Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi
Vice-President Krishan Kant, who died this morning after suffering a massive heart attack, was a disappointed man before his death. At one point during the process of selecting a candidate for the Presidency, he was informed by the Prime Minister's Office that he would be the chosen candidate of the National Democratic Alliance as well as the Congress.
Not long after he was humiliated as much as then Maharashtra governor Dr P C Alexander, another frontrunner for the Presidency.
Late last year, a group loyal to Bharatiya Janata Party leader and current Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani advocated Alexander's candidature to succeed President K R Narayanan amongst members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan sounded off Dr Alexander and leaders like Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar. The PMO joined the chorus till Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu entered the fray with Krishan Kant as his nominee.
As governor of Andhra Pradesh, Kant had sworn in Naidu as chief minister and both men liked each other. Naidu -- leader of the influential Telugu Desam Party -- thought he could prove his might by getting Kant elected to the highest post in the land.
Mahajan, on the other hand, had tasted success when he got dark horse, Shiv Sena leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi, elected to the Speaker's post. The over-confident Mahajan thought he could score again.
A P J Kalam did not figure in the list of probable candidates when the first round of talks for the Presidency took place amongst the nation's leading political parties. Advani's group was on a high. Defence Minister and Samata Party leader George Fernandes, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazagham leader Vaiko and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders too threw their weight behind Dr Alexander.
The BJP hardliners felt if Dr Alexander was elected President, the next general election was half won. BJP cadres could launch an aggressive campaign against having two Christians in India's highest posts. "How can India be ruled by two Christians: Sonia Gandhi and P C Alexander?" a BJP leader asked.
Expectedly, the Congress party opposed it. Fernandes claimed, "The Italian (Congress president Sonia Gandhi) has a personal grudge against him (Dr Alexander)."
Dr Alexander was a front runner for two months till the Opposition was united on the issue of selection of the Presidential candidate. The Congress thought it was time to show its strength as India's leading Opposition party. They wanted Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to "respectfully" ask for its opinion. Wisdom dawned on the Congress that a blind cheque to the NDA would be construed as political weakness. Noteworthy is the fact that before the informal launching of Dr Alexander's name, the Congress was not consulted.
When the Congress got its act together it discovered a new political space in the form of Opposition unity. As soon as Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Congress, and the Left parties gathered on one platform, the PMO activated a counter strategy.
Brajesh Mishra, Vajpayee's principal secretary, was also against Dr Alexander's candidature. A senior Congress Working Committee member told rediff.com, "Alexander throttled Mishra's prospects when Mishra was a diplomat." Mishra found a friend in Natwar Singh (the Congress leader and, like Mishra, a former member of the Indian Foreign Service). They had a common adversary (Dr Alexander). The PMO took up Naidu's cause and suggested to the Congress that Krishan Kant was now its choice for the Presidency. Kant sounded off his friends about the great honour he expected to receive.
When the Advani group discovered the PMO's gambit, they opposed Kant's candidature and forced the PMO to take up Dr Alexander's case again with the Congress.
By mid-June, two factors contributed to the complexity of the political game. The anti-Muslim Gujarat riots and the strong possibility of war. The PMO was of the opinion that in the event of a war, a contest over the Presidency should be avoided.
Once the war clouds began to disperse, Dr Alexander's name was back in circulation. But Mulayam Singh refused to support Dr Alexander, citing Congress opposition to the Maharashtra governor, and for the sake of Opposition unity. The Congress then sought refuge in President Narayanan who was believed to be ready for a second term if the Opposition could unite to support him.
At one stage, the Bahujan Samaj Party indicated that if Narayanan was in the fray it would back the Dalit president. It gradually became clear that if Narayanan contested an election against Dr Alexander, the latter could lose, and this would diminish the government's authority.
No government could afford to take that risk, so, like Krishan Kant, Dr Alexander was not-so-quietly dumped. Vajpayee, Fernandes, Advani and Mahajan then homed in on Abdul Kalam. Vajpayee sought Sonia Gandhi and Mulayam Singh's approval for Kalam's candidature. Advani called BSP leader Mayawati; Fernandes spoke to Dravida Munnetra Kazagham leader M Karunanidhi and obtained consent for Kalam's nomination.
Mahajan flew to Hyderabad to pacify Naidu, who had pushed Kant's candidature. Before the NDA meeting on June 10, Fernandes relayed a curt message to Sonia Gandhi, "If you don't want a Christian, accept a Muslim."
Of the two victims of the political war for the Presidency, Dr Alexander has survived the humiliation with candid interviews and the June 25 election to the Rajya Sabha. Kant passed away two days after A P J Abdul Kalam took charge of the Presidency, conveying his deep sense of hurt only to his closest friends.
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