The Presidential Farce

The race for who gets to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan next has been reduced to a farce even before it has begun. A numerically insignificant but vocally belligerent Left has made the Congress bow down once again before its whims and fancies. Forget the ruling combination and the opposition forming a consensus on a suitable candidate as President, the ruling UPA itself was not able to zero in on a name that was acceptable to everyone (chiefly the Left). The names of Shivraj Patil, Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, Karan Singh, Mohsina Kidwai cropped up but all were rejected due to a variety of reasons ranging from infighting within the Congress itself to rejection by the Left.
Enter Pratibha Patil. Huh? Come again. When was the last time you heard that name? Ok now I am nobody to doubt her credentials (she is currently Governor of Rajasthan) but I think there are atleast a dozen more leaders who have superior political stature and mass appeal. Having been rudely arm-twisted into a blatant compromise by the Left, the Congress is now trying to project Patil's nomination as being a 'historic moment for women'. Ah! Tokenism is and has always been the last refuge of our politicians. Lets see. Has the Bill reserving 33% of seats in Parliament and State Assemblies for women been passed? How many woman ministers do we have in this country? And for God's sake, how does it matter to the common woman in the cities and villages of India? Has their lot improved all of a sudden?
Where does all this leave poor Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the almost certain nominee of the opposition NDA and current Vice-President of India? He seems to have the better credentials. But elections are always number games. And the numbers seem to overwhelmingly favour Pratibha Patil.