Ashik
PRANAB MUKHERJEE
13TH PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA
New Delhi, July 2012 Klaus Julian Voll and Kamakshi Nanda.1
For further information please contact Ernst STETTER, FEPS Secretary General at ernst.stetter@fepseurope.eu or David KITCHING, FEPS Policy Advisor at david.kitching@feps-europe.eu
1
Dr. Klaus Julian Voll advises FEPS on Asia and Kamakshi Nanda is a historian and political analyst. FEPS Rue Montoyer 40 B-1000 Brussels +32 2 234 69 00 | www.feps-europe.eu
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
The 2012 Presidential Elections - outline
II.
Candidate profiles Pranab Mukherjee P.A. Sangma
III.
Role and powers of the President:
2
THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
The party of the ‘Aam admi’ (Common man), Congress, fielded a Bengali Brahmin, Pranab Mukherjee, as President. The son of a freedom fighter against British colonialism has served the Congress for more than four decades in various ministerial positions. His opponent, P. A. Sangma, a Christian “tribal”2, hails from the state of Meghalaya. The former Labour Minister was supported by the Opposition National Democratic Alliance, and the ruling regional parties Biju Janata Dal from Orissa and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from Tamil Nadu, on the grounds of being the leader of the Tribal Forum. 22nd July 2012 decided the faith of these two ex-Congressmen. Both through their grit and ambition charted out their lives outside the villages they were born in. Their political journey started in rural constituencies of their home states. Their meteoric rise thereafter inspires awe in many. Disillusionment rankled both politicians, thus leading them to exit the party that was instrumental in getting India its independence. It is here that the similarities between the two men end. The older, Pranab Mukherjee3, was brought back to the folds of his parent party by P.V. Narasimha Rao, India’s Prime Minister between 1991 and 1996, and became a Union Cabinet Minister with
13TH PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA
New Delhi, July 2012 Klaus Julian Voll and Kamakshi Nanda.1
For further information please contact Ernst STETTER, FEPS Secretary General at ernst.stetter@fepseurope.eu or David KITCHING, FEPS Policy Advisor at david.kitching@feps-europe.eu
1
Dr. Klaus Julian Voll advises FEPS on Asia and Kamakshi Nanda is a historian and political analyst. FEPS Rue Montoyer 40 B-1000 Brussels +32 2 234 69 00 | www.feps-europe.eu
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
The 2012 Presidential Elections - outline
II.
Candidate profiles Pranab Mukherjee P.A. Sangma
III.
Role and powers of the President:
2
THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
The party of the ‘Aam admi’ (Common man), Congress, fielded a Bengali Brahmin, Pranab Mukherjee, as President. The son of a freedom fighter against British colonialism has served the Congress for more than four decades in various ministerial positions. His opponent, P. A. Sangma, a Christian “tribal”2, hails from the state of Meghalaya. The former Labour Minister was supported by the Opposition National Democratic Alliance, and the ruling regional parties Biju Janata Dal from Orissa and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from Tamil Nadu, on the grounds of being the leader of the Tribal Forum. 22nd July 2012 decided the faith of these two ex-Congressmen. Both through their grit and ambition charted out their lives outside the villages they were born in. Their political journey started in rural constituencies of their home states. Their meteoric rise thereafter inspires awe in many. Disillusionment rankled both politicians, thus leading them to exit the party that was instrumental in getting India its independence. It is here that the similarities between the two men end. The older, Pranab Mukherjee3, was brought back to the folds of his parent party by P.V. Narasimha Rao, India’s Prime Minister between 1991 and 1996, and became a Union Cabinet Minister with