Anil Anand
Matinee idol Amitabh Bachchan as the next President of India! It sounds fabulous. He is a no mean pushover as he is erudite, well conversant with the political milieu and it is hard to believe that he is ignorant about the country’s Constitutional scheme of things. And what if Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks of nominating him as his Presidential candidate when the top post falls vacant in mid-2017? Then it seems the job is half done.
But it is easier said than done.
The huge army of Bachchan senior’s fans will surely vouch for him as the President of India. He has an inspiring persona, presentable and an impressive speaker. Their counter to those questioning his filmy background as some kind of an impediment is if Hollywood actor Ronald Regan could become President of India what stops Bachchan from entering Rashtrapati Bhawan. And then the latter would only be a titular and ceremonious head in the country’s Constitutional scheme of things.
Well there are no two opinions about his credentials and qualifications to have a go at the top slot. And Modi has a reason to think about his candidature, if the reports have any basis, not only because Bachchan is an iconic figure but in certain sense of the term politically correct from the former’s perspective. If that is a strong point, to be politically correct, for Bachchan his problems also emanate from this tag.
As is proverbially said there could be no fire without smoke. And what if the one to notice and raise alarm about the smoke and resultant fire is none other than a once close friend and self-professed younger brother of Bachchan, the high profile politician Amar Singh?
Given their ‘bade miyan- chhote miyan’ proximity and given the fact that Amar Singh, whenever in Mumbai, used to stay at the Bachchan mansion, the former’s revelations and outburst cannot be taken lightly and dismissed. The revelation is about the Prime Minister likely to nominate him as his Presidential candidate and the outburst to torpedo the chances if any.
Notwithstanding his repeated denials about his political leanings and claim of being apolitical Bachchan is a surrogate politician which also could turn out to be a problem area for him. His claim that he is not cut out for politics does not hold water in an overall assessment of his personality.
It is a political master-stroke for him to be the brand Ambassador of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh ruled by BJP and Samajwadi Party the two ideological diversities. Another significant link of his surrogate politics is the hard fact that his wife and a star of her times Jaya Bachchan being a Rajya Sabha MP of the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.
Was it due to the fear that the strong political combination of Modi and Yadav could ensure Bachchan’s entry into Rashtrapati Bhawan that his friend turned foe Amar Singh sought linking his name to the beleaguered Sahara group chief Subrata Rai? In a sudden spurt Amar Singh granted an interview to a private news channel to question the payment of Rs 50 crore which he claimed was made by Rai to Bachchan to bail the latter out of a financial mess. Referring to latest developments in the Sahara case, Rai is currently in jail, he said as per Supreme Court directions the money belongs to Sebi.
The Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion! Amar Singh sought to invoke this Shakespearean thought in asking Bachchan to deposit this amount with the Sebi and explain the circumstances as to why Rai paid this huge amount to him. Usually reticent and calculative in reacting to a situation, Bachchan quickly reacted through a tweet. The reaction was more philosophical in nature and skirted the issue of Rs 50 crore payments.
Is it a coincidence that barely days after Amar Singh’s diatribe Bachchan’s name figured in the list of 500 Indians who had direct or indirect association with companies operating from the tax haven of Panama? He has vehemently denied being associated with any such company when reports came in that at some point in time his brother Ajitabh while managing the star’s finances had alleged linkages with Panama based companies.
There are political factors for and against Bachchan’s Presidential candidature. First and foremost his hatred towards the Gandhi family which he has been expressing in unequivocal terms and readiness to strike back could prove handy to Modi’s oft-repeated goal of a ‘Congress-Mukt Bharat’. The moot point would be that whether a vulnerable Bachchan with Amar Singh and Panama syndrome staring at him would show courage to take the call.
Of greater significance would be the mathematics of the electoral-college which consists of Members of the two Houses of Parliament and those of the state Legislative Assemblies. The odds are heavily against Bachchan, as Modi’s candidate, even if Mulayam Singh Yadav also decides to back him up. The ongoing elections to the five state Assemblies have not much to offer to BJP. The party will have to do exceedingly well in the subsequent polls to Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and all important UP Assemblies due in 2017.
In all probability the theory of consensus candidate would again come into play under compulsions of the coalition era. It is well known by now that neither Modi nor BJP president Amit Shah believe in political malleability of the kind for which former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee was known.
Not only will the two leaders have to walk an extra mile to make Bachchan a consensus candidate at least in the BJP-led grouping as there are bleak chances of Congress ever thinking of backing him. But the superstar will have to come clear and unscathed out of the recent charges being levelled against him.
The fact that Amar Singh has more friends in the political and corporate spectrum than Bachchan will also be a challenge that the latter would have to face. After all he must be privy to many secrets and has the potential to spill the beans as he did recently.
After all, the Presidential candidate should have a clean slate and who knows what more Amar Singh has up his sleeves.
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