(The Hindi version of this book seems to have been written when Shri K.R. Narayanan was the President of India.)
The tenure (5 years) of Shri K. R. Narayanan, President of India,) of a country having a population of more than one thousand millions and holding top position among the democratic countries in the world) was completing on 24 July 2002. Keeping this in view the process of selecting a new and suitable candidate began in our country. Some indications could be found from newspapers that the President of the Samajvadi Party and ex-Union Defence Minister, Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, during a meeting with Shri Atal Behari Vajpayi, had suggested to him the name of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
After this news became public, people thought that Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, owing to political reasons, had a more favourable attitude towards Muslims. Whereas, Shri Mulayam Singh’s own statement was that since, due to himself having been the Defence Minister of this country, he had close contacts with Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who is honoured as ‘missile-man’ and who holds Bharat Ratna award, he had suggested his name for the post of President of India, considering him the most suitable candidate for the post.
Well, whatever may have been the circumstances, when the process for search of a most suitable person for the above post began, the ministers and especially Pramod Mahajan, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of Bharatiya Janata Party,—the largest party in the Central Government—suggested the name of M.P.C. Alexander, Governor of Maharashtra, with the permission of the Prime Minister. Bal Thakare, President of Shiv Sena, was also in agreement with Pramod Mahajan. Just then the President of Telugu Desham Party and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandra Babu Naidu, suggested the name of Sri Krishna Kant, the then Vice-President of India for the post of President of India. Both were congratulated secretly.
Meanwhile, the name of the present President of India, Shri K.R. Narayanan, was also in the air. It was thought that since his impression was that of a clean person in all respects, he should be allowed to continue as President of India. But seeing the murmuring among the large and small political parties of the coalition partners in the Central Government, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayi, Prime Minister of India, during a brief meeting with him, explained his views that the administration was not in favour of him in connection with contesting election for the post of President.
When the opposition parties came to know about it, the Joint Front along with the Congress Communist-Marxist parties and Forward Bloc expressed their agreement giving a clear chit to Shri K.R. Narayanan to contest the election. The President of the Congress party (opposition leader) also assured him of her support. Such agreement of support prepared him to context the above election.
When the news in this respect began getting wide coverage in the newspapers, the National Democratic Alliance, after calculating every aspect, left it to Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayi to select a unanimously acceptable name. And Shri Atal Behari Vajpayi suggested the name of a most suitable candidate for the post of President of India—Bharat Ratna Prof. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who, besides having been a Scientific Advisor, is also known as ‘father of rocketry‘ and a ‘missile-man’. Like, in chess, there is ‘check and mate’ there is ‘check and mate’ in politics also. The National Democratic Alliance made efforts and made Chandra Babu Naidu, President, Telgu Desham Party and Mayawati Devi, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh, agreeable on this point.
The Leftists and the Third Front were in a strange state of predicament. The Third Front was dissolved because Shri Mulayam Singh was already in support of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The Leftists were of the view that a great scientist, a renowned ‘missile man’, will not be able to do justice to his ‘duties’ sitting in the chair of ‘President of India’—the duties which are of vital importance when it comes to safety and security of our country.
When Dr. Kalam, while in Chennai, came to know from some reliable sources about his candidature for the post of President of India, declared by the National Democratic Alliance, he was simply astonished. He thanked God and thanked humbly all the political parties which had extended support to him. Seeing no way out, the Leftist parties, in opposition, announced the name of Dr. Lakshmi Sahgal (81 yrs.) as their candidate who, in Azad Hind Fauj, was an assistant of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and had been a great amazon. The process of election began.
It is doubtless that 90 per cent of the votes will be cast in favour of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on 15 July 2002 and he will win. India is a country based on the constitution of which the great personages of saintly temperament, scholars, scientists and artists get proper respect and receive honours.
The following lines give a clear picture of the virtuous qualities of Dr. Abdul Kalam—
(1) He is, physically, mentally and with all his capabilities, an Indian. Refuting the argument that he was declared a candidate of National Democratic Alliance and Samajwadi party because he belonged to Muslim community, he said—‘First of all I am an Indian in all respects. Each and every drop of blood in my body is Indian.’
(2) On being called ‘father of rocketry’ and ‘missile-man’, he said, exhibiting all his simplicity and modesty, that the credit of success in space technology went to his colleagues who worked with sincerity giving miraculous results for the security and safety of the country.
(3) He also said that the Indian satellites, various kinds of excellent missiles, computers and other technical achievements in development, are only a recourse to our country’s self-defence, so that no enemy countries dare launch an attack on us.
(4) He believes that an awakening in the youths of our country should be brought, so that they could be led to the ultimate target of progress and development—a point reaching where by the year 2020 this country finds itself most developed, powerful and economically strong.
(5) Dr. Abdul Kalam is dedicated to India and to the people of India. He is saintly, even-handed, fair, impartial and friendly. He has equal reverence for Qur’an and Geeta. He has faith in God in its truest sense, he is an ascetic, and the miracle of his fate is that the Fates have taken him to the height of the post of President of India from that of the ‘newspaper vendor’.
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