IPA Newspack
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets

IPA /

IPA Special

IPA Special

Narendra Modi Has Started Exercises For Picking His Next Presidential Candidate

By Kalyani Shankar

The 2022 presidential election will occur when President Ramanath Kovind’s term ends on July 25. Though it is more of an ornamental post as the real power exists in the hands of the elected Prime Minister, there are always speculations about the polls.

It may be too early to speculate but the present scenario is not nail-biting because the ruling BJP has the magic number to get its candidates elected easily. The gap between the NDA allies and the opposition is quite broad. Still, the opposition might put up a candidate to oppose the BJP.

There are also two other things to remember. The first is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might hold his cards to his chest till the last minute, although the BJP has started the exercise with the support of its parent organization, RSS, There are reports at the recent conclave of the RSS held after the elections to the state assemblies, the RSS discussed the names of Mayawati and Najma Heptullah for the post of President.

Secondly, in all probability, Modi might surprise everyone, as he has been doing in these eight years in his choice of ministers, chief ministers, speakers, and even portfolios of his ministers. Or else could Smith Irani have got the HRD ministry in her first stint or Nirmala Sitharaman Defence or Finance or Manohar Khattar as Haryana chief minister? They have all proved themselves later.

Modi’s choice of Lok Sabha speaker in 2019 was equally surprising. Even the election of incumbent President Ramnath Kovind, who occupies 350 acres of sprawling Rashtrapathi Bhavan, was most unexpected. President Kovind is a low profile and no – controversy president and has not given any anxious moments to Modi in all these five years. The transition of power after the 17th Lok Sabha polls in 2019 was very smooth.

For all  we  know, Modi can even throw another surprise and retain the incumbent President, giving him a second term. Traditionally,  no President except the first President of Independent India, Rajendra Prasad, got a second term.

The first presidential election took place on May 2, 1952. After four days, Dr. Rajendra Prasad became the winner with 5,07,400 votes. In 1957, he won the election for the second time. So far, he is the only person to hold the office for two terms.

Modi has a wide choice of candidates within his party and outside. The front runner is Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu. It has been the tradition to elevate the Vice President to President. It happened in the case of Radhakrishnan, K.R Narayanan, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, and R. Venkataraman, among others. Naidu is a respected and mature politician and former BJP President. He understands politics quite well.

The BJP, and its allies, are ruling in seventeen states and one U.T. There is a total of 1,098,903 votes. The BJP has 465,797 votes and its alliance partners 71,329, leaving a shortfall of 9,194 votes.

Prime Ministers have mostly been careful in their choice of Presidential candidates. There have been some controversies during the term of Giani Zail Singh and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and earlier between Indira Gandhi and President Sanjiva Reddy. Even the first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, had some differences with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Unanimity on the choice of the President is indeed debatable. The BJP has a comfortable majority of pushing through its candidates. It would be better if the BJP consults the opposition and gets its candidate elected unanimously. But in the present aggressive atmosphere between the BJP and the opposition, it may not happen.

Modi has a wide choice to find his candidate. It is a question mark whether he would like someone from other parties to occupy the Sprawling Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Among the politicians, many names like Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, BSP chief Mayawati, former BJP chief Rajnath Singh, and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, among others, are doing the rounds.

BJP’s tribal women leaders Anusuiya Uikey (governor of Chhattisgarh) and Draupadi Murmu (former Jharkhand governor) are being mentioned.. The names of two Governors, Tawarchand Ghelot and Arif Mohammad Khan, are also doing the round. Khan is an import from Congress and a Muslim face. Karnataka governor Gehlot is close to Modi. Insiders say, Modi is considering Gehlot, whom he trusts.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties are trying to put up a joint candidate. Whether this will materialize depends a lot on the regional satraps like Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), M.K. Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), and K. Chandrashekar Rao (Telangana).

Modi is looking for a loyalist, low profile, and lightweight person from the BJP ranks to succeed Kovind. Whoever he picks for the position has to be trustworthy. (IPA Service)

IPA Special

Traders Behind Soaring Wheat Prices In India

May 23, 2022
IPA Special

Navjot Sidhu Sentence Speaks Poorly Of The Pace Of Judicial Process

May 23, 2022
IPA Special

Gyanvapi Masjid/Mandir Issue Is More Complex And Volatile Than Ayodhya

May 23, 2022
IPA Special

Europe Is At Crossroads Between Neoliberalism And Justice

May 23, 2022
Business

M’rashtra, Kerala, R’sthan cut fuel VAT after central cut

May 23, 2022
Happening Now

Saudi Arabia bans travel to India, other countries over covid

May 23, 2022
Happening Now

Assam academic held for criticising govt policies

May 23, 2022
Happening Now

KCR’s immediate agenda presidential poll; Cong left out

May 23, 2022
Happening Now

No decision for excavation at Qutub Minar, minister

May 23, 2022
IPA Special

Remembering Rammohan Roy On His 250th Birth Anniversary On May 22

May 22, 2022
IPA Special

Supreme Court Stress On Cooperative Federalism A Slap On Centre

May 21, 2022
IPA Special

Even After Udaipur Chintan Shivir, Congress Is Groping For Its Role

May 21, 2022
IPA Special

Learning Poverty In India To Induce Huge Loss Of Jobs And GDP

May 21, 2022
IPA Special

Winning The Hearts Of Foreigners Abroad Is Not Going To Help Rahul Gandhi

May 21, 2022
IPA Special

Rammohun Roy And Karl Marx: Resonating Together

May 21, 2022
IPA Special

Mexico Leads In Opposing The Cuba Blockade And U.S. Mischief

May 21, 2022
Business

RBI to pay Rs 30,307 crore dividend to govt for FY22

May 21, 2022
Politics

No senior Cong leader at Sidhu’s residence after jail verdict

May 21, 2022
Politics

Bommai in Delhi amid speculation about cabinet changes

May 21, 2022
Happening Now

Jet Airways to start flying again after 3 years

May 21, 2022

An appeal

The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.
Click here to learn more

Share

Reply

  • 0
More on IPA

Traders Behind Soaring Wheat Prices In India

May 23, 2022 3:47 pm | IPA Staff

By Nantoo Banerjee India’s domestic wheat market is on fire ever since the government said it was targeting record shipments this year after exports from...

IPA Special

Navjot Sidhu Sentence Speaks Poorly Of The Pace Of Judicial Process

May 23, 2022 3:28 pm | IPA Staff

By Arun Kumar Shrivastav Navjot Singh Sidhu has been sent to the Patiala Central Jail to serve a year-long sentence in a case of road...

IPA Special

Gyanvapi Masjid/Mandir Issue Is More Complex And Volatile Than Ayodhya

May 23, 2022 3:24 pm | IPA Staff

By Sushil Kutty The #MeToo movement was also about correcting the ‘wrongs of history’ in which powerful men got to get their comeuppance for bad...

IPA Special

Europe Is At Crossroads Between Neoliberalism And Justice

May 23, 2022 3:16 pm | IPA Staff

By Nora Garcia Nieves “Neither war that destroys us, nor peace that oppresses us.” This historic anti-war slogan of the Spanish feminist movement holds one...

IPA Special

Traders Behind Soaring Wheat Prices In India

in IPA Special
May 23, 2022   ·  

Navjot Sidhu Sentence Speaks Poorly Of The Pace Of Judicial Process

in IPA Special
May 23, 2022   ·  

Gyanvapi Masjid/Mandir Issue Is More Complex And Volatile Than Ayodhya

in IPA Special
May 23, 2022   ·  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow us on
Up Next: Karnataka minister named in contractor’s suicide case
©2020 -2021 India Press Agency, All Rights Reserved
Newspack by India Press Agency
Posting....
logo
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets