Kalam to Kovind
Kalam to Kovind Journey of BJP from Statesmanship to Pusillanimity In 2002, NDA under Vajpayee, proposed the name of APJ Abdul Kalam as its Presidential candidate. In 2017, a far stronger NDA under Modi proposes the name of a career politician Ram Nath Kovind for the same post. The choices & the underlying narrative couldn't be starker. Vajpayee promoting Kalam was primarily a sign of his statesmanship. Of course, the secondary benefit NDA accrued was that Kalam's name evoked immense respect amongst the citizens too for the sheer contribution Kalam had made to India's security. Needless to say, Kalam got spontaneous support from non NDA parties too to become one of India's most admired presidents. 15 years on, NDA which has a massive 49% votes compared to opposition's paltry 35% & 13% non-aligned votes in the electors collegium, choosing Kov...