The Utterances of a Peculiar Mindset

Pratibha Patil is all set to become India's first woman President. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi declared Patil as UPA's nominee for India's highest post on Thursday evening.
The Congress revealed this ace up its sleeve when Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh realised that big names were not finding acceptance across the board.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had run into trouble because the Left said he lacked stature, Congress wasn't sure if BSP supremo Mayawati would approve of a Dalit leader like Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, was indispensable to the party.
Pratibha Patil benefited from a process of elimination and this Governor of Rajasthan emerged the most acceptable political face for the top Constitutional post in the country. Suddenly everybody was smiling there were no complaints. Even heavyweight male contenders accepted her nomination gracefully.
So, India is set to get its first woman President, but the question that was being raised was: Is India ready for a woman President?

Though history may be about to be written, with India getting its first woman president, it seems as if Pratibha Patil was a backup choice, a second thought for the UPA.
Girija Vyas disagreed with this saying that though India has had to wait for a long time to get a woman President, the women of the country are happy that they are finally getting their place in the sun.
Neerja Choudhary says "It is like Dr Kalam's candidature which came at the last minute. Pratibha Patil is certainly a second choice, but something that all the allies of the Congress, including the Left, found difficult to go against."
CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief, Rajdeep Sardesai said that there were three reasons why Pratibha Patil was being made the President of India: first that she is a woman, second being that she was from Maharashtra - which has never had a President, a Vice President or a Prime Minister, and thirdly because she is married to a Shekhawati, and would be now able to take on NDA's choice for the President's post, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
He added that the entire argument being made by the Left parties who were opposed to Shivraj Patil and to Sushil Kumar Shinde was the fact that they did not have stature. "Does Pratibha Patil really have that stature? Is it enough to have just a woman candidate? Questions are now started to be raised on that count. She was certainly a politically correct choice, but is Pratibha Patil the kind of person who should be the President of India?" Rajdeep Sardesai wanted to know.
He wondered if she was simply being given the throne because she is a Congress loyalist.

Does Patil Have Political Stature?

Pratibha Patil was a member of the Lok Sabha till 1996, then she disappeared from the scene completely and reappeared after eight years, when she became the Governor of Rajasthan in 2004. She does have a strong background in social work, but that was all that she had to back her up.
The question was whether a strong background in social work was good enough to get her the post of the country's President?
To this Nikhil Wagle said, "I am happy that after 40 years, a woman is heading for the Rashtrapati Bhawan, but Pratibha Patil definitely does not have the stature that a President of a nation like India is required to have. Pratibha Patil does not represent the fight of women in India. She represents the traditional women of India. It's unfortunate that she does not inculcate the values of the modern, present-day woman."
Aswini K Ray agreed saying that there was a certain symbolic pride in the fact that a woman is becoming the President of India. "The President's post is intended to be less political. In this case one is not unhappy because it could have been much worse, one is also happy that she is a woman."
He, however, added that Patil did not have political stature because if she did, she would have had as many political opponents as a hig profile politician encounters. "It's almost been a qualification for her not to have a political stature for she comes to the fore by the process of elimination," he said.

Can Patil Live Upto Expectations?

Aswini K Ray said that he did not really think Pratibha Patil's being a woman had anything to do with her being made the President of India.
Rajdeep Sardesai added his two bits saying, "I think it's important to recognise who Pratibha Patil is succeeding. President APJ Abdul Kalam redefined the Indian presidency and reinvented it for the 21st Century Indian. He was a people's president and the question that should be asked here is, 'can Pratibha Patil step into his shoes'?"
He said that 65 per cent of India was under the age of 35 and their yearings are very different now. He wanted to know whether Pratibha Patil could really represent that part of India?
"Unfortunately, our politicians will not be able to answer these questions for they take politically correct and politically expedient choices," he added.
He said that there was an element of tokenism and symbolism, but the question was whether Pratibha Patil could be anything more than that or not.
"Unfortunately, Indian politics has always looked for a shortcut. Instead of genuinely empowering Indian women, we look for tokens and symbols. Perhaps Pratibha Patil will only end up as that. However, she has got a historic opportunity and she can use it over the next six years, much in the manner of how President Kalam did and she can actually work for women's empowerment. That's what she should do and then I will say that, 'yes, India is truly ready for a woman President'."
Nikhil Wagle said that Pratibha Patil had to mould herself to the Rashtrapati Bhawan. "She has to forget her past and work towards leading the nation," he said.
He also felt that Pratibha Patil could take on the male-dominated society of India. "I think that she can take the mantle from President Kalam and work towards inspiring all the women in the country."

SMS Poll by CNN
Is India ready for a woman President?

Yes: 49 per cent
No: 51 per cent