United Petty Alliance and the Presidential election

The UPA has proved itself to be as petty as the opposition it claims to be communal. The pettiness of the election for the highest albeit ceremonial post in India has turned out to be the biggest farce of the past few days. The UPA decided on Pratibha Patil's name as a fait accompli after the Left opposed every single candidate the Congress could think of. Since when have the people given the Left the job of deciding what is in the best interests of the nation? When we vote as the people of India, we believe in the principles India stands for and every candidate that is elected is no different when compared to any other. It is an insult to the collective intelligence of this country when the Left starts deciding who is secular and who is not. We the people are intelligent enough to discriminate between the two poles without having the Left guide us all the time.

Coming to the process of the election of the President, it was shameful to hear Mr.Dasmunshi, Mr.Pawar and Laloo telling India's eminent nuclear scientist and arguably one of its most popular presidents that his time was over. Retirement it seemed was also not going to be a matter of his choice. Many people have already written about the tokenism that was shown by the UPA when they announced Pratibha Patil as the symbol of women's empowerment in India. But what went unnoticed in all this din was Laloo celebrating womenhood when her name was announced. The people of this country remember distinctly the role of the RJD and the SP in scuttling the Women's reservation Bill in Parliament and don't need to be told about the emancipation of women by Laloo.

I have tried to understand the reason why the Congress was opposed to Mr.Abdul Kalam by watching the debates where their leaders participated. But I must confess that it was not at all clear to me why they were unwilling to consider his name again other than cite precedents. Don't they understand that what they have done has created a precedent that will be emulated by any party following them? In the interests of the nation, it is Ok to dump the Left.