New Delhi, Oct 24. A guessing game has begun on who would succeed the President of India Droupadi Murmu whose term ends in July next year. Though , barring Dr Rajendra Prasad, no President got a second term since Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alone would decide the next Rashtrapati . Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla who presides over the Lower House for the second term consecutively, could be a dark horse.
Birla who remains a confidante of the Prime Minister, remained non controversial in last 12 years.Although,the Opposition members had moved a no confidence motion against him unsuccessfully, his relations with Opposition members remained cordial so far. This is perhaps due to his attempts to accommodate every member to raise issues on the floor.
Modi’s choice for the top post has always been unpredictable and out of the box . A senior Minister and a heavy weight BJP leader had suggested the name of Mr L K Advani to succeed Pranab Mukherjee but Modi preferred Ramnath Kovind, lesser known BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh.
If Jagdeep Dhankar was politically over smart while running the Rajya Sabha as its Chairman, Om Birala remained a low profile. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the only Lok Sabha Speaker who was elevated to the Rashtrapati Bhavan without a contest.Dr Zakir Husain and Fakhrudfin Ali Ahmed were the two Rashtrapati who did not complete their term.
Birla hails from Rajasthan from where Bhairon Singh Shekhawat became the Vice President of India. He got more votes than the NDA MPs because of his stature in BJP and popularity cutting across the party line.But he lost the Presidential election against Pratibha Patil of the UPA who was the Rajasthan governor before filing her nomination papers. Incidentally, Jagdeep Dhankar also comes from Rajasthan and was recently invited by the RSS chief for the annual Vijaya Dashmi [Dussehra] celebrations of RSS in Nagpur.
Modi’s choice for the post of President will obviously be his ‘yes man/woman’ .But if Nagpur presses for its swayamsevak for the top post,then it could be a different game. In fact,the President’s election could also be the beginning of an internal battle of who should succeed Narendra Modi in 2029.
A Delhi based Senior Journalist and Political Commentator.
