A civil contest

A civil contest

The presidential election can be a good start for parties to work towards a constructive agenda
Irrespective of the outcome of yesterday's presidential election, Ram Nath Kovind and Meira Kumar can take pride in conducting a campaign that never descended into name calling or acrimony .This is praiseworthy at a time when the loud din of divisive rhetoric has polarised society and politics, making it difficult for sane voices to get themselves heard. Admittedly , indirect elections to the presidency, vice-presidency and Rajya Sabha comprise a smaller electorate making them less chaotic affairs. But ultimately it is the personalities of the candidates and their utterances and conduct on the campaign trail that stand out. But Meira Kumar may rue the manner in which she was selected.For weeks opposition parties dithered on naming a candidate.JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar lost patience and neutral parties like the BJD and YSR Congress saw little sense in playing this waiting game.
The NDA sprung a surprise by nominating Bihar governor Kovind.
BJP may have flashed the Dalit identity card but opposition parties exposed their lack of imagination when they did a tit-for-tat.
Nitish refused to back Meira and correctly identified the malady: Congress was in reactive mode rather than setting an alternative agenda.With nothing to lose, Congress could have named an eminent apolitical citizen by taking a leaf out of BJP's playbook in 2002 when it chose APJ Abdul Kalam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advance greetings to Kovind and Sonia Gandhi's call for a conscience vote ¬implicitly conceding that the numbers are stacking up against Meira ¬ reveal the contrasting mood in the two camps.
The civility that marked the presidential campaign can become the norm. The government appears to have decided to constructively engage with the opposition. PM Modi told an all-party meeting that communal unrest in the name of gau raksha would not be tolerated and enlisted their cooperation in the ongoing anti-corruption drive. Prior to this, Union home minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had briefed opposition leaders on the China stand-off and Kashmir situation. The message emanating from these meetings is that the government and the opposition share similar priorities and both sides are willing to listen to each other. The country has suffered enough from polarised politics, name calling and loony conspiracy theories. Now is the time to put an end to it.