Rashtrapati Bhavan: A Suitable House for a Suitable Swami

The process of finding a new incumbent for Rashtrapati Bhavan has already kicked in.

As head of the republic, the president is deemed to be the embodiment of national sovereignty. He or she personifies national dignity and ceremonial grace. It is not an inconsequential office. The very nature of the electoral college gives the president a certain kind of legitimacy and a definite constitutional status. Therefore, the next president has to again be a substantial  persona who should inspire a modicum of respect and deference across partisan lines.

Since the election of the first president in 1952, it is the ruling party that has always cobbled the requisite numbers behind its nominee. In effect, this means that it is the prime minister who gets to decide who the next president will be. Except Rajendra Prasad in 1952 (and then again in 1957), India has not had a president who could be said to have naturally elected himself/herself to office. When in 1969, the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, felt that rivals in the party were trying to foist an unhelpful president on her, she dug her heels in and ensured that the party bosses’ mischief did not take off.

In 2007, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, as incumbent vice-president, thought he was naturally owed the presidentship and tried to crowbar his way to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Not surprisingly, he failed. No prime minister will allow an unfriendly president.

And, that is indeed how it should be because under our parliamentary system of government, Rashtrapati Bhavan cannot be a site of rival authority. It should certainly not be available to anyone out to intrigue against a prime minister, especially not one who commands the confidence of the majority in the Lok Sabha. The president comes into play when the ruling party’s majority becomes doubtful or the prime minister himself/herself appears to have lost the confidence of his/her own party. And, that is the time when the republic needs a wise and prudent president, not someone who will get ensnared in the politicians’ petty intrigues. 

So, also in 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his co-Shah-en-shah will try their very best to install a president of their choice. The opposition, assuming it can come together and agree on one candidate, will be entitled to rustle up a majority behind its nominee.

A contest for the office of the president can become a fierce political clash.

If the prime minister fails to ensure the victory of his presidential candidate, the political equilibrium will get drastically altered to Modi’s disadvantage. Likewise, if the prime minister can get his nominee through, his own unchallenged leadership in the party will get further consecrated. 

Given this matrix of calculations and equations, a second term for the incumbent, Ram Nath Kovind, would be unprecedented. He has proven himself to be a very accommodating and indeed a very convenient president for the prime minister. But the very quality – docility – that makes an incumbent a seductive option is also fraught with danger. With a second term under his belt, no president can be trusted to enjoy being a glorified cipher. The worm can turn. And that is a prospect not to be easily cherished by any prime minister.

Governor Anandiben Patel’s name is doing the rounds and it is a name that recommends itself in many ways. She is probably the most trusted colleague and  comrade in arms Modi has had in  his very difficult journey. A “woman president” makes a good sales pitch too for a PR-conscious PM. However, the idea of the president, the prime minister and the all-powerful home minister being from the same state, Gujarat, may not be very palatable to very many among Modi’s own crowd. 

Arif Mohmmed Khan may be a good choice for Modi based on a APJ Abdul Kalam-type calculus. However, two drawbacks present themselves. Though for now Khan has been meticulously correct in terms of deference and submission to the “high command”, his political track suggests a man of certain honor and self-respect, whom no one can make the mistake of taking for granted.

Second, his elevation from the Thiruvananthapuram Raj Bhavan to Rashtrapati Bhavan  would violently disconcert Modi’s ‘Nupur Sharma constituency’ – those animated by a righteous and arrogant state of mind which refuses to concede the need for any kind of accommodation and voice for Muslims, however obsequious and obedient. 

As for an Adivasi or a north-eastern nominee, that would perhaps be an easy essay in political correctness but then the prime minister no longer needs to kowtow to ‘Khan Market sentiments’. He has now elevated himself to a higher level of political nirvana. 

What Naya Bharat needs is someone who is a fellow-traveller, someone who is not ideologically hostile to Modi but also someone who will not be personally over-awed by him or any other incumbent. A president who can make the prime minister sit down and tell him a thing or two.  Someone who can be relied upon to know the limits as well as the essence of his office. Someone like Subramanian Swamy.

We know he is more genuinely committed to the “Hindu” causes than most of the vociferous drum-beaters of the “Hindutva” manufactured by the BJP’s spin-machine. He would be eminently acceptable to the most radical of the Hindutva “fringe elements”. At the same time, Swamy is an extravagantly intelligent man, a man of learning yet not unfamiliar with the politicians’ ways of intrigue and machinations. He will make an ideal counsellor to the prime minister, even though of late he has been critical of the Modi crowd. But that is precisely the kind of friendly criticism that the prime minister needs and deserves.

Since Swamy is no longer a Rajya Sabha MP, there is a possibility that he may be forced to vacate his official Pandara Road bungalow, thus jeopardising his personal safety. Shifting him to Rashtrapati Bhavan would solve this problem too, without having to fiddle around with rules governing sarkari housing.

Swamy will, undoubtedly, be a red-rag to the Opposition, especially to the Congress party. He has a track record of causing great pain to the Gandhi family. But he is the quintessential child of the Constitution of India and the opposition can perhaps rest assured that should push come to a shove in 2024, Swamy is someone who would do a “Mike Pence”. Donald Trump’s vice-president not only refused to go along with his boss’s attempted constitutional mischief, on January 6, 2021 but was also clear about his constitutional obligations: “I know we did our duty that day, upholding the Constitution and ensuring the peaceful transfer of power.” 

Given New India’s love and adulation for the Shahenshah regime and its instruments for transparent political funding like electoral bonds, 2024 seems unlikely to trigger a ‘January 6’ type insurrection. But should there be one, the republic will need a robust, substantive presence in Rashtrapati Bhavan to handle the crisis.