From HT Archives: Vajpayee names Kalam as NDA’s pick for President
Senior BJP and TDP leaders said the choice of Kalam left the Congress with no option but to settle for a consensus
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on June 10, 2002, announced APJ Abdul Kalam, the father of India’s indigenous missile programme and recipient of the Bharat Ratna, as the NDA’s presidential candidate. The announcement seemed to throw the Opposition into disarray.
It was Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu’s intervention that ensured the NDA finally found a consensus candidate in Kalam. He spoke to Kalam, sounding him out and preparing the ground for an offer from Vajpayee. The PM spoke to the scientist soon after.
Later, Vajpayee spoke to Naidu, AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha, and BSP leader Mayawati, who welcomed Kalam’s candidature.
Naidu flew to Delhi in a BSF aircraft in time for a meeting of the NDA where Vajpayee formally announced Kalam’s candidature. Later, NDA convener George Fernandes, Naidu, Mayawati, and parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan addressed a press conference making public Kalam’s candidature.
Senior BJP and TDP leaders said the choice of Kalam left the Congress with no option but to settle for a consensus. If the Congress did not, it would pay a heavy price — being seen to be opposed to a Muslim candidate who is not politically controversial.
Mahajan flew to Mumbai to convey Vajpayee’s decision to Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. Vajpayee was anxious to get Thackeray’s consent. Thackeray welcomed the idea.
Vajpayee spoke to other NDA leaders and allies, including Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who supported Kalam’s name for the top post.
The Congress and the People’s Front (PF), which had displayed a show of unity in pushing for a second term for President KR Narayanan, reportedly had problems endorsing Kalam’s candidature.
The problem was perhaps even more acute for the PF, as the Left was not overly enthused by Kalam’s candidature.
The Samajwadi Party’s difficulty was most acute. It had first mooted Kalam’s name at party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s meeting with Vajpayee before his Almaty visit.
The Opposition’s reservations become all the more untenable given the fact that Kalam was decorated with the Bharat Ratna when the United Front, backed by the Congress and the Left, was in power.
The Opposition cannot take a decision on Kalam without reverting to Narayanan, after their joint appeal asking him to contest.
Some Congress and Left leaders believe that the BJP-led NDA has chosen Kalam to neutralise the BJP’s poor communal record in Gujarat. A contrary view is that the Congress would lose politically if it did not settle for a consensus, after the NDA’s climbdown under pressure from Naidu.
“I’m confident that they cannot contest now. Kalam’s candidature represents a national consensus,” Naidu told HT. “The Opposition will lose more than a presidential election if they decide to put up a fight.”
The TDP leader’s confidence may not be misplaced. The NDA has a strong chance of attracting the SP’s support.
When told about Kalam’s candidature at a meeting with Vajpayee earlier in the evening, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had also asked Vajpayee whether he was the NDA’s final choice. When they broached the subject of electing the vice-president, Vajpayee replied that it would be dealt with separately.
The BJP’s calculation is that after conceding ground to Naidu, it can now elect a vice-president of its own choice.
Kalam released a statement, saying, “I am happy to be the presidential candidate.”