The Man who will be President
K V Lakshmana
From a sub-editor with the Mount Road Mami -- The Hindu
-- to the threshold of the Presidency via The Times of India and a
distinguished stint as the country's man in China and the United
States is quite a journey for the soft-spoken diplomat in Vice-
President Kocheril Raman Narayanan.
Not one to indulge in aggressive lobbying for
himself, Narayanan's emergence as the front-runner in the Presidential
race is no mean achievement at a time when Rashtrapati Bhavan
has come to assume great political significance in these days
of fractured verdicts and coalition politics.
Unassuming Narayanan, 76, presents a stark contrast
to the other self-proclaimed 'Presidential material' in the fray
-- T N Seshan. If the former chief election commissioner is going
all around the country to woo the politicians he had frightened
not so long ago, the vice-president carries on his official duties,
that include chairing the Rajya Sabha, calmly. In fact it was
his simplicity, unassuming nature and clean image that endeared
him to the voters of Ottapalam from where he was elected to the Lok
Sabha thrice.
For a man of his stature, it is no surprise that
Narayanan emerged as the consensus choice of all political parties
to become the unanimously elected 10th vice-president
of India -- a position he has served with consummate ease even
as the same political parties appear set on promoting him to Rashtrapati
Bhavan.
Narayanan describes himself as a common man and says
he finds himself equally at home at his one-room ancestral house
at Uzhavoor in Kerala or 6, Maulana Azad Road of Lutyens's Delhi.
And for a common man from a scheduled caste, to get to occupy
the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan is a testimony to the thriving
democracy in the country.
However, the enthusiasm of the political parties
to accord the first citizen status on Narayanan is, ironically,
not shared by the grouping of scheduled caste and tribe politicians.
Quite naturally, it does not view Narayanan as 'one of us'. Possibly because of his unpolitician-like background that is full of
intellectual pursuits and diplomatic achievement.
Perhaps to scuttle his name, the SC/ST Forum threw in a rider last month that only a scheduled caste freedom fighter
be sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan to commemorate 50 years
of Independence.
Narayanan was born into a family of ayurvedic doctors in 1921. Ever since
he began schooling in Uzhavoor Narayanan was fond of literature and poetry which got recognition from the eminent editor, E V Krishna Pillai.
By 1943, having completed an MA in English literature from
Kerala University, Narayanan settled down into a lecturer's job
at Travancore.
His creative instincts drove him out of a pedantic
lecturer's job onto a foray into journalism. And naturally, as
anyone down the Vindhyas is apt to, Narayanan began his journalistic
career in the editorial department of The Hindu in Madras.
A year later he moved onto Bombay as a reporter with The Times of India.
Spending a year at The Times of India, young Narayanan's
urge for more knowledge made him write to J R D Tata for a scholarship
to study economics at the London School of Economics. A successful
bachelor's degree from London later, Narayanan returned to India
with recommendation letters from Harold Laski. All the while
Narayanan was in London, he kept writing for Social Welfare weekly.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was so impressed
with the testimonials presented by Narayanan that he got him interviewed
by Foreign Secretary K P S Menon and selected him for the external
affairs ministry he was setting up. After entering the Indian
Foreign Service, Narayanan's first posting was Burma. His Burmese connection was further enforced when he fell in love with Ma Tint Tint, a Burmese
student at the Delhi School of Social Sciences.
A quiet word with Nehru was all that was needed for
Narayanan to get around the IFS regulation of a bar on marrying
a foreigner.
Narayanan's eventful career in the foreign service is
marked for his tenure as India's ambassador to China in 1976.
Soon after his retirement from the IFS, Narayanan was
picked up by the Morarji Desai government to head Jawaharlal
Nehru University as its vice-chancellor in 1979. After this assignment,
it was back to diplomacy for Narayanan as Indira Gandhi sent
him to the United States as India's envoy.
Four years in Washington later, Narayanan's request
for entry into politics was granted by Indira Gandhi.
But it was her son who fielded Narayanan
from Ottapalam in Kerala, from where he was elected to the Lok
Sabha thrice. Despite local Congress leaders's opposition to Narayanan
for his Leftist leanings.
His radical views on the Dunkel Draft also made him suspect
in the eyes of Congress leaders from Kerala like K Karunakaran.
But despite such sentiments against him, the support
from the BJP and the CPI-M forced the then prime minister and Congress
president P V Narasimha Rao to nominate him as the party's candidate
for the post of vice-president in July 1992.
Since he emerged as the consensus candidate, he was
elected as the vice-president without any contest and assumed
office on August 21, 1992. His five year term expires on August
20, 1997. Before that, of course, he will be elected President of India.
Kind courtesy: The Observer of Business and Politics
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