PA Sangma on Presidential election and more

If you land in Delhi, you will land smack in the middle of the high drama and the intense politicking that's gripped the capital as it prepares for the presidential elections next month.

Names are being thrown about; political leaders are meeting, strategizing and posturing. The situation, as they say, is very fluid. In the midst of all this, there is one gentleman who stayed pretty consistent.
He has made no bones about the fact that he is interested in the job and he spent the past few months canvassing support to be India's first tribal president. CNBC-TV18’s Anuradha SenGupta spoke to former Lok Sabha speaker and NCP leader, the always cheerful and forthright Purno Sangma. Here is an edited transcript of his comments. Also watch the accompanying video for more. Q: As one of the people in the center of what is happening, give us your perspective on how things are going?
A: This time it is interesting. Presidential elections have never been as interesting as it is now. Most of the times the ruling party would have the numbers, they would have the power to dictate and the rest had to follow, like last presidential elections.
Nobody ever imagined that the present incumbent Pratibha Patil would be the candidate. Suddenly she became a candidate and Congress could do it because they had the numbers with them. That is not the case this time. This time the two big groups of political players in the nation, one is UPA led by Congress, another is NDA led by the BJP neither have the number and they will have to depend on non-Congress, non-BJP, non-UPA, non-NDA political parties. You can call them third front. Q: What are you calling them?
A: I don't call them anything. They are the people who will play a political role. Q: You have been in politics since 1970s. In fact you became an MP in 1977, although your career started a few years ago. So, you have seen 8 presidential elections - from Fakhruddin Ahmed to Pratibha Patil. You are saying that, what we are seeing today is unprecedented?
A: Not exactly unprecedented. This is a different situation. 1969 when Dr Sanjiva Reddy was the official Congress candidate and the prime minister then Indira Gandhi was not very favourable to him. Q: Her candidate was VV Giri?
A: VV Giri and that time Congress had the majority. Only point was the Congress Prime Minister did not like the candidate, her official candidate. So V.V Giri become an independent candidate and Prime Minister gave me a call for a consensus vote. So that was a situation where Congress in spite of having majority in the electoral college could not get their candidate through and V. V Giri was selected that was one situation. Q: In 1969?
A: In 1969 and before that and after that it has been more or less a smooth affair. In fact the following year 1977-1978 I think Sanjiva Reddy again become a candidate of the Janta Party and the only occasion where the president was elected unopposed unanimously. This time again the situation is different because the ruling party does not have numbers. Q: So you are saying after 1969, 2012 maybe the next sort of milestone moment in presidential elections in this country. Would that be an exaggeration or would that be a fact?
A: I think that will be a fact that this election is going to be remembered. Q: What is also unusual in this election is the fact that there is someone who has said quite openly and directly that he would like to be president. You positioned yourself as India’s first tribal president, isn’t it?
A: Yes. Q: A lot of eye brows have been raised, not too many people are sure that this is a conventional route to take because this is such high office, you are not suppose to want it, isn’t it? So how do you explain the route that you are taking?
A: If you want to serve the country you should have the willingness, commitment to serve the nation. Unless you have that intention of serving people and you are being put there ceremoniously and asking you to be a rubberstamp I don’t think it is worth. If a citizen of India can aspire to become an MLA and declare I am a candidate, if a citizen of India can declare and say I want to serve the people and therefore I want to become member of parliament, they declare it and they contest elections, so why not for president.