Dirt Track To Rajpath

When politicians howl and cry about how venal such a vital election has become, I reply "serves you right". It is the political class which stubbornly insisted that the president must come out of the unclean cauldron of party politics. Kalam was an aberration. Jobs for the boys, irrespective of what the people want. I repeat, the nation is clamouring for a non-political president and it is an insult to the citizen's intelligence to say, "only a politician can do the job."

Incidentally, since everyone and his uncle is claiming he/she suggested the idea of a woman Rashtrapati first, let me enter my claim. In the March 12 issue, on this page, I wrote: "And how fitting it would be if the new president of India is a woman.... I can think of half-a-dozen names who would add lustre, grace and feminine wisdom to Rashtrapati Bhavan."