QOTD: Is India ready for a woman Prez?

New Delhi: Pratibha Patil is all set to become India's first woman President. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi declared Patil as UPA's nominee for India's highest post on Thursday evening.

The Congress revealed this ace up its sleeve when Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh realised that big names were not finding acceptance across the board.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had run into trouble because the Left said he lacked stature, Congress wasn't sure if BSP supremo Mayawati would approve of a Dalit leader like Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, was indispensable to the party.

Pratibha Patil benefited from a process of elimination and this Governor of Rajasthan emerged the most acceptable political face for the top Constitutional post in the country. Suddenly everybody was smiling there were no complaints. Even heavyweight male contenders accepted her nomination gracefully.

So, India is set to get its first woman President, but the question that was being debated on CNN-IBN's Face The Nation was: Is India ready for a woman President?

On the panel of experts to try and answer the question were National Commission for Women Chairperson, Dr Girija Vyas; IBN-Marathi Editor, Nikhil Wagle; Senior Journalist, Neerja Choudhary; and Political Scientist, Aswini K Ray.

The initial poll results on the show indicated that 48 per cent of the people were saying India is ready for a woman President, while 52 per cent disagreed saying India needed some more time to mature and accept a woman at the top post.

Pratibha Patil, a Second Thought?

Though history may be about to be written, with India getting its first woman president, it seems as if Pratibha Patil was a backup choice, a second thought for the UPA.

Girija Vyas disagreed with this saying that though India has had to wait for a long time to get a woman President, the women of the country are happy that they are finally getting their place in the sun.

Neerja Choudhary agreed with Dr Vyas saying that she was very happy with the choice. However, she added that Patil's choice was like a googly that had been thrown by the UPA to try and wriggle out of a very tough situation. "It is like Dr Kalam's candidature which came at the last minute. Pratibha Patil is certainly a second choice, but something that all the allies of the Congress, including the Left, found difficult to go against."

She added that Pratibha Patil was a politically expedient, a politically great choice.

CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief, Rajdeep Sardesai said that there were three reasons why Pratibha Patil was being made the President of India: first that she is a woman, second being that she was from Maharashtra - which has never had a President, a Vice President or a Prime Minister, and thirdly because she is married to a Shekhawati, and would be now able to take on NDA's choice for the President's post, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

"All three reasons may seem like good reason to make Patil the President of India, but what about stature?" he asked.

He added that the entire argument being made by the Left parties who were oppposed to Shivraj Patil and to Sushil Kumar Shinde was the fact that they did not have stature. "Does Pratibha Patil really have that stature? Is it enough to have just a woman candidate? Questions are now started to be raised on that count. She was certainly a politically correct choice, but is Pratibha Patil the kind of person who should be the President of India?" Rajdeep Sardesai wanted to know.

He wondered if she was simply being given the throne because she is a Congress loyalist.

Does Patil Have Political Stature?

Pratibha Patil was a member of the Lok Sabha till 1996, then she disappeared from the scene completely and reappeared after eight years, when she became the Governor of Rajasthan in 2004. She does have a strong background in social work, but that was all that she had to back her up.

The question was whether a strong background in social work was good enough to get her the post of the country's President?

To this Nikhil Wagle said, "I am happy that after 40 years, a woman is heading for the Rashtrapati Bhawan, but Pratibha Patil definitely does not have the stature that a President of a nation like India is required to have. Pratibha Patil does not represent the fight of women in India. She represents the traditional women of India. It's unfortunate that she does not inculcate the values of the modern, present-day woman."

Aswini K Ray agreed saying that there was a certain symbolic pride in the fact that a woman is becoming the President of India. "The President's post is intended to be less political. In this case one is not unhappy because it could have been much worse, one is also happy that she is a woman."

He, however, added that Patil did not have political stature because if she did, she would have had as many political opponents as a hig profile politician encounters. "It's almost been a qualification for her not to have a political stature for she comes to the fore by the process of elimination," he said.

Is This a Way to Give Women Reservation?

Many are now thinking that bringing Pratibha Patil to the fore is the first step in the process of giving 33 per cent reservation to women in India. People are beginning to say that this is just a feel-good nomination rather than a nomination of substance and that she may not be able to produce the desired results.

Girija Vyas said that this was possible, but that the women of India were expecting much more. "The powers that be - whether they are the UPA leadership or the Speakers of both the Housess - all think that women in the country need 33 per cent reservation. However, we expect more from Pratibha Patil. We want her to be committed to the cause of women in the country."

Dr Vyas added that a lot was being expected from the new President. "She was the Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha, she was PCC President of Maharashtra and she has been the Governor of Rajasthan, so we think that she is a great candidate."

Neerja Choudhary added that low profile did not necessarily mean low stature. "Pratibha Patil represents decency in public life, she's very dignified in the way she carries herself and she has wide experience."

However, she added that India is still a very feudal society and that people were used to having women at home. "Having a woman at the highest post of the country means that there is change setting in, but it is going to take some time to change mindsets yet," she said.

Can Patil Live Upto Expectations?

Aswini K Ray said that he did not really think Pratibha Patil's being a woman had anything to do with her being made the President of India.

Rajdeep Sardesai added his two bits saying, "I think it's important to recognise who Pratibha Patil is succeeding. President APJ Abdul Kalam redefined the Indian presidency and reinvented it for the 21st Century Indian. He was a people's president and the question that should be asked here is, 'can Pratibha Patil step into his shoes'?"

He said that 65 per cent of India was under the age of 35 and their yearings are very different now. He wanted to know whether Pratibha Patil could really represent that part of India?

"Unfortunately, our politicians will not be able to answer these questions for they take politically correct and politically expedient choices," he added.

He said that there was an element of tokenism and symbolism, but the question was whether Pratibha Patil could be anything more than that or not.

"Unfortunately, Indian politics has always looked for a shortcut. Instead of genuinely empowering Indian women, we look for tokens and symbols. Perhaps Pratibha Patil will only end up as that. However, she has got a historic opportunity and she can use it over the next six years, much in the manner of how President Kalam did and she can actually work for women's empowerment. That's what she should do and then I will say that, 'yes, India is truly ready for a woman President'."

Nikhil Wagle said that Pratibha Patil had to mould herself to the Rashtrapati Bhawan. "She has to forget her past and work towards leading the nation," he said.

He also felt that Pratibha Patil could take on the male-dominated society of India. "I think that she can take the mantle from President Kalam and work towards inspiring all the women in the country."

Final SMS poll: Is India ready for a woman President?

Yes: 49 per cent

No: 51 per cent

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