Pranab shows he’s not a rubber-stamp Prez

Mr Pranab Mukherjee may have moved from the hurly-burly of active politics to becoming the country’s 13th President. But in resisting the government’s move to push through an ordinance to overturn a Supreme Court ruling on legislators, Mr Mukherjee has clearly indicated that he’s no rubber stamp when it comes to exercising his authority as the head of the state. Now, all eyes will be on Mr Mukherjee in 2014 when the general elections are expected to return a fractured verdict after which the President can have a very crucial role to play in government formation. Yet another test lies before him there. Despite having been an active Congressman for over four decades, during which he held several senior and important positions both within the party and the government, Mr Mukherjee appears to have kept intact the dignity of his office by transcending party politics. Indications of an astute mind willing to take tough decisions came after just a few months into his presidency when two mercy petitions — of 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru — were rejected by him within a span of just three months. Acknowledged as the UPA’s troubleshooter whenever the situation demanded and a man who deftly handled his job as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, it was amply evident in recent days that the President would be no walkover as far as the nod to the controversial ordinance was concerned. As head of state by virtue of which he is expected to uphold the Indian Constitution, Mr Mukherjee appears to have played his constitutional role in questioning the need for the ordinance. Indeed, there were early indications of the President’s reluctance to simply go along with the government’s decision to come up with the ordinance as the legislative bill seeking to do the same had been referred to a parliamentary standing committee.