Why Chetan Bhagat will be a better president than Amitabh Bachchan
A recent news report rudely shook me out my mid-week stupor.
No, it wasn't Kanhaiya Kumar's difficult-to-gulp gyaan on 2002 and 1984 pogroms, but a report which quoted former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh claiming that PM Narendra Modi is planning to propose Amitabh Bachchan's name for the next president of India.
Considering that Modi government wants to nominate names for the post based on Delhi Times' top 10 celebrities over 50, I certainly feel that there are at least three good reasons why Chetan Bhagat - messiah of unfulfilled dreams of frustrated IT professionals-turned-MBA graduates - deserves to be deeply considered for the top job:
 |
1. Top posts are reserved for loyalists (hint Pratibha Patil)
Unlike Amitabh Bachchan, who has an uneven track record of conveniently jumping from one political bandwagon to another (from Rajiv Gandhi to Mulayam Singh Yadav to Narendra Modi, and somewhere in the middle a cameo with Mamata Banerjee), the Twitter world discovered a true Modi bhakt in Chetan Bhagat even before the term bhakt was introduced.
 |
The "Shehenshah" of Bollywood may have a little tough time explaining his political somersaults - from fighting and winning on a Congress ticket to campaigning for Mulayam's party, SP, to being Mamata di's favorite chief guest to endorsing Modi's regime in Gujarat. But then being a professional actor does help playing multiple and complex roles at the same time.
2. President should represent a minority community
Just like our PM, Amitabh Bachchan also claims to have a pan-India connection that can put Airtel 4G reach and network to shame - "Allahabad's prodigal son with Punjabi blood running through him, while speaking Marathi at award shows and claiming to be a Bengali daamad", all at the same time.
 |
Chetan Bhagat, on the other hand, represents a true minority in India. He is among the few writers who actually make money by writing books. And by the way, how many can claim to have made good money from bad books?
3. President should have a "connect" with the youth
APJ Abdul Kalam proved how "igniting young minds" is not just an inspiring story, but also a great PR strategy. Amitabh Bachchan falls short even on this front. The only time his films are played in our drawing rooms these days is when parents want to watch Baghban for the umpteenth number of time, desperately hoping to find a similarity between Bachchan's plight in the film and their own. Chetan Bhagat can claim to have an army of young engineers who know they have an equally trashy novel plot somewhere in them. Bhagat even claims to know what the youth of this country want. He is a better representative of India's youth with obviously the lowest IQ in the world (lest you forget: if it wasn't you, he wouldn't have sold his books in millions).
 |
| Modi is reportedly planning to propose Bachchan's name for next president of India. |
The President of India is not a mere ceremonial position as many would like to believe. It's his responsibility to appoint and remove senior constitutional authorities, including the prime minister and the council of ministers. All appointments of the judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts, the state governors, the attorney general, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG), are all approved by him.
And considering how fast non-NDA ruled state governments are being overthrown by the Centre these days, it will be imperative that a politically knowledgeable person holds the position of such esteemed authority.
Agreed, that India has a patchy history of selecting dubious people to top positions, and that only a select few enjoy a popularity comparable to the Shehenshah of Bollywood. However, making one more mistake, and that too only because of his popularity for playing characters written by others, doesn't seem to be a valid enough reason.
If you still want to reward Bachchan for his contribution to the good Indian society, why not give him his tenth lifetime achievement award or even a Bharat Ratna? But by asking him to be president will one day pave way for a Sachin Tendulkar or even a Chetan Bhagat to aim for the seat and challenge Pratibha Patil's unenviable place in our public conscience.