Why did Sonia Gandhi and the INC didn't support Abdul Kalam's reelection as President of India in 2007?

If we see history, other than our first president Dr. Rajendra Parasad no other president got elected for 2nd term, even though many of them were well deserving. It is very sad that Dr. Kalam was not given a well-deserving 2nd term. And the replacement we got possibly was the worst till then.

I believe everyone in the nation inclusive of all the hardcore supporters of Congress would agree with me that Dr. Kalam should have been given a 2nd term. However, unfortunately, it didn’t happen. And I would hold Congress primarily responsible for that. I do not know the reason behind it, but the nation was definitely never happy with this decision of Congress and particularly discontent with the selection of the next incumbent.

However, if Congress deserves criticism for its choice of the presidential nomination, the current dispensation also doesn’t deserve any acclamation in that respect. Possibly both at par.

There could be multiple reasons for not electing Dr. Kalam for 2nd term…

1. He was the President elected by the BJP government, and UPA didn’t want to re-elect Him because of the typical rival party way of thinking.
2. Possibly there was a need to appease the Maharastra voters for the political equation. Most of our Presidential elect has been on political consideration rather than purely on merit. I think this could have been the actual reason for not electing Dr. Kalam for 2nd term.
3. Last but not the least Congress didn’t want a strong president to be in charge, particularly when it had a politically not-so-strong PM in power. There could have been a risk of MMS being influenced by the strong personality of Dr. Kalam. MMS being through gentlemen wouldn’t have been able to say no to Dr. Kalam or influence him the other way if need be. It would have been difficult, also for Sonia to manage Dr. Kalam. Dr. Kalam wouldn’t have compromised on ethics. This is exactly the reason a strong PM like Modi also didn’t take the risk of having a strong presidential nomination. He has also gone for someone who wouldn’t summon the resolve to send back any bill/ordinance for reconsideration.

Ultimately political interest is of paramount importance. I am very much sure Modi Ji also would have done the same thing with Dr. Kalam, it is evident from his selection of presidential nomination. It was only Vajpayee Ji who could rise beyond narrow politics.

Vajpayee Ji had a towering personality, stature, and goodwill to command respect from friends and foes alike. He was a befitting PM for a befitting President or vice versa. The mutual respect was the key element in the entire equation. Too often you don’t see two such towering personalities holding each other in such high esteem.

Otherwise also the nomination of Dr. Kalam was a masterstroke in the interest of the whole nation. After the Godhra incident and the resulting Gujarat riot, India was under the spotlight of international attention. India couldn’t have afforded to flare up communal tension. There was a strong need to set the tone right and send a strong message nationally as well as internationally. Vajpayee Ji had the golden opportunity in his hand and there couldn’t have been anyone better than Dr. Kalam to be appointed as President from every aspect.

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