Presidential candidate’s holy vision

Pratibha Patil is the ruling Congress-led government’s choice to be the next Indian president.

She will be replacing the popular bachelor APJ Abdul Kalam, whose term ends as India's 12th president on July 24. Man-of-science Abdul Kalam has sought to improve education, rural communities and scientific developments during his presidency.

Many Indians whom I know speak very highly of Kalam’s ground-breaking speech when he was first elected as president as it chartered the path for India’s future.

Pratibha, 72, is a politician and had already garnered enough controversies as she tries to be the constitutional head of the largest democracy in the world.

Consider these:

Just as soon as her nomination was made known, she opened her mouth to come under fire from the Indian Muslim community and historians for uttering that purdah/veil was a Mughal invaders invention and was not needed in secular India.

This was soon followed by two allegations of abuse of power by the former governor of Rajasthan - protecting a murderer (who happens to be her brother) and the sugar factory scandal. In the latter, Pratibha is alleged to owe money to a bank.

And most damaging of all is her revelation that she heard voices of a dead holy man who told her about her destiny.

The presidential election is on July 19 and we await for further revelations. In the meantime, the woman herself dismisses all charges made against her. Read about it here and here.