Bull's Eye

Before Dr Kalam took oath as president, this column said he might be good for the nation but bad for the government. It also said that to uphold the Constitution, he would have to be interventionist. Three factors make it likely. First, the president did not seek out the political parties to get elected. The parties needed him. He won through a contest and is obliged to no party. Secondly, he presides over the most fractured polity of independent India. And lastly, politicians have never been as discredited as they are today.

Events, not the president's inclination, may drag him into confrontation with the politicians. In the event of a confrontation between the president and politicians, who would the public support? Mulayam Singh should be thinking hard about this.

The recent petrol pump and prime land allotment scams did not expose corruption but mammoth patronage, not crimes but horrendous class exploitation. All systems have exploitation. But its scale in India is shocking. Politicians are the main beneficiaries. But so is the rest of the elite, including those who read or write in Outlook. It is not enough to expose the rulers and change them. The system has to change.

An estimated 800,000 family members of government employees in Bihar have received no pay, or its meagre fraction, for years. This, while the CM illegally requisitioned cars to celebrate an exorbitantly lavish family wedding attended by Bollywood stars. Will the Centre consider constitutional rule broken down only after insurgents rule the streets of Patna?

According to media reports, before going to Gujarat the president wanted to address MPs. The government cited the Constitution to deter him. Article 86 of the Constitution states: "The President may address either House of Parliament or both Houses assembled together, and for that purpose require the attendance of members." That's pretty unambiguous, isn't it? To save the system, the Constitution will need re-interpretation. History may summon this president to do that job.

Men make laws,
Laws govern men,
If men grow flaws,
Shouldn't laws change then?