Is being a woman enough?

I write this after hearing of the surprise candidature of one Ms. Pratibha Devisingh Patil as India's next President. Yes, she has been in politics for ages and yes, she is Rajasthan's first woman Governor and the only female Governor in India at the moment and yes, she has Parliamentary experience. But so do the other candidates and some of them, have much greater political presence and experience than she does, then why her?? I can think of no other reason other than the fact of her being a woman that could have triggered this move.

Pronab Mukherjee was not good enough because Ms. Gandhi didn't like him that much and the official version that he forms a strong pillar of the UPA government is not untrue either. Shivraj Patil, close to Ms. Gandhi but too distant from the Left proved to be not too ideal. Karan Singh, aspiring Prez for many years now and if I may say so, an aspiring many things for all his life but we need a little more than just a Prince from Kashmir to make the cut. Sushil Shinde and Narayan Murthy were out of the race, long before it became serious.

In fact, sections of the media are calling the Presidential elections, a battle between the Shekhawats; Patil being married to a Shekhawat herself. Ms. Sonia Gandhi, whose closeness to another Patil and her support for him as Prez was vetoed by the Left allies has referred to Ms. Patil's nomination as a "historic moment" in independent India's 60 year old history, all because she is a WOMAN (she seems to have forgotten that she wouldn't even have thought of a woman candidate, had Shivraj Patil garnered the necessary support). Adding another twist to the tale, the media advisor to the Prime Minister said that the PM's office had already prepared a list of the top 10 women in the country who could be fielded as the UPA Presidential candidate! (Yeah, we believe you!)

Since I did not know who the hell our future Prez is, I decided to find out more about her. However, I found little evidence of her capabilities as a leader, other than the fact that she had a lot of firsts to her credit, by virtue of being a WOMAN. Without taking anything away from her, I, hereby, quote her credentials that has led her to where she is today:

1. First woman Governor of Rajasthan.

2. First woman leader of Opposition in Maharashtra in 1979.

3. She has been Minister in Maharashtra several times and although, it is not mentioned and I am too lazy to research on it, I won't be surprised if she is the first lady to head some of those ministries.

Among her other credentials; she is a lawyer by qualification and as the intensive research team of CNN-IBN will tell us, she was also "TT champion in her college" and that just might won it for her. It is being said that Bhairon Singh Shekhawat may consider it inappropriate to contest against the first "serious woman candidate" and back out. However, the NDA has not supported Patil's candidature and are very much backing Shekhawat as of now.

Pride of Maharashtra or Bahu of Rajasthan, whatever you might call her, I am quite miffed by the selection. We have had a mixed record of Presidents in India, some super achievers and distinguished scholars like Dr. Sarbapalli Radhakrishnan or Dr. Kalam; political big wigs like Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Dr. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy or government stooges like the infamous Dr. Giani Zail Singh. Yes, we have had no women Presidents in India before, but nominating a person just because of her gender does not speak too well of the status of women in India. There are many other ways of uplifting women in India but this may not be it. One might argue that a President is a mere figurehead, so what's the big deal? But the truth is that, if we have a pro-active President who takes interest in the running of the country and the promotion and protection of the basic rights of people and is not afraid to show dissent and depart from the government line of thinking on issues, if he/she feels that what is being done or proposed to be done is wrong, we, the ordinary people appreciate it. Dr.Kalam represents a "good" President but Giani Zail Singh didn't during his time, when he followed the Indira Gandhi line blindly.

Amulya Ganguly believes that India also needs a political lightweight President and Patil represents that in many ways. Her political career has been largely non-controversial and even as Governor, she has remained non-political. Her opposition of the Rajasthan anti-conversion Bill has also proved her secular credentials. But that apart, there seems to be no other reason why she should be President? Media has reported that she is very loyal to the Gandhi family. Although non-controversial, will she go against Ms. Sonial Gandhi or the UPA she leads, in matters of importance? Given her political/public anonymity and complete lack of presence in the past, we donot know.

Another interesting thing that Rajdeep Sardesai pointed out and I could not agree more is that 65 per cent of India's population being below the age of 35 years, their aspirations are very different. Dr. Kalam was truly a 'peoples President' and represented the dreams and realities of a 21st century Indian and was accepted by the public at large. Pratibha Patil is an unknown somebody who I, as the aam aadmi do not recognise nor identify with. She is the last, politically consensual choice of our politicians made at the very last moment to please the Left, whose preference for a women President we are aware of (Remember, the candidature of Captain Lakshmi Saigal in the previous Prez elections). In fact, it pains me to see the likes of Laloo Prasad Yadav hailing and supporting Patil's candidature, when it is his party that will not let 33 per cent of Parliament seats be reserved for women..So much, for their conecrn for women;s rights..laughable, almost. Pratibha Patil, at 73 does seem like a politically correct choice for President but whether she will win the confidence of the public, if elected, only time will tell. Happy as I am, that a woman may become India's next President; I cannot help but feel sad that the fact of being a woman, is being used and exploited to such a degree that other, more deserving candidates may have been left behind, some of whom, not even in the fray!

I am no political expert...I wrote what I felt and what my limited knowledge permits me..But please do read Amulya Ganguly's piece at http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1317902.php/Pratibha_Patil_The_advantages_of_being_lightweight%0A_COMMENTARY_