President-elect Kovind: Big mandate, bigger pressure

With power comes responsibility, and with a big mandate comes big expectations. President-elect Ram Nath Kovind has just stepped out of several comfort (and familiarity) zones – being a member of a political party, a Dalit leader, an advocate. Just after being sworn in on July 25, Kovind will become the President of the whole of India, shedding the last thread of a politician from his being. And that is when his real test begins. 

Every choice for the president’s post is a deeply political one made by the government of the day. In 1969, Indira Gandhi had taken it to an extreme by supporting VV Giri, who stood as an ‘independent’ candidate, to take on the official Congress candidate Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy. From thereafter, the presidential ‘selection’ had become an exercise in political muscle-flexing by the ruling party or combine, and the presidential election became a numbers game. Sound like a general election it might, but there is a very sensitive and critical distinction: While a newly-elected Prime Minister can continue to be deeply political and shower largesse on her/his voters, a newly-elected President has to turn apolitical and should, ideally, delete the past.
 
President-elect Kovind is entering Rashtrapati Bhavan at a critical juncture for the Narendra Modi government. The renewal of faith (read general election) is not far away, several state polls are lined up and the Prime Minister has shifted governance and reforms into the fifth gear. Kashmir continues to be on the boil, China is itching for an armed conflict with India, right to privacy is being re-examined, the so-called ‘Gau Rakshaks’ are creating problems enough for the government (PM Modi has given them a tongue-lashing recently), the hills of Bengal are restive, and polarisation continues to ail the country. On the sunny side, the Modi-led government is determined to push through reforms, disrupt and rebuild, no matter what might be the political cost.

The House on Raisina Hill will face both headwinds and tailwinds. Election-bound politicians will make demands and rake up past associations, caste warriors will try to play the 'Dalit' card, there will be pressure to pass bills and promulgate ordinances ASAP, fringe elements will continue to create embarrassments. President-elect Kovind will, therefore, have to fly his presidential aircraft in strict adherence to the flight manual. In his case, that would be the Constitution of India.