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All the prime minister’s men

For Jawaharlal Nehru the road to the first general elections,on which he was very
keen...
Written by Inder Malhotra |
April 17, 2009 12:28:48 am

For Jawaharlal Nehru the road to the first general elections,on which he was very
keen,was not clear even after the ouster of the “obstreperous” Congress
president,Purushottamdas Tandon. The prime minister had yet to overcome strong
opposition to some of his fundamental policies from a more powerful source,the
Republic’s first president,Rajendra Prasad,who had served earlier as president of
the Constituent Assembly.

Differences between Nehru,the life and soul of the Congress leftwing that then
included both socialists and communists,and Prasad,a pillar of the party’s
rightwing,led by Vallabhabhai Patel,went back a long time. These became acute at
the time of Independence and Partition. Prasad was not a revivalist like Tandon. He
was also opposed to theocracy. But as an “orthodox Hindu” he wanted the Indian
state to be “symbolic of the Hindu majority”. Nehru would have none of this,and
began to believe that Prasad was “less secular than even Patel”. No wonder then
that he did not want Prasad to be the president when India became a Republic. He
therefore brought C. Rajagopalachari (better know as Rajaji) to Delhi as governor-
general when Mountbatten left in June 1948. But there was a strong feeling against
Rajaji within the Congress party,especially regarding his opposition to the Quit
India movement (1942-45). Rajaji was therefore reluctant to join the race for
presidency. Indeed,he astounded the prime minister by suggesting that Nehru should
become president and Patel prime minister.

Consequently,Nehru resorted to what he usually did under such circumstances. He

wrote to Prasad suggesting that he should decline the office of head of state.
Prasad refused to oblige and cleverly added that he left it to Nehru and Patel “to
edge me out”. Only then did it dawn on Nehru that Patel,with his enormous influence
in the party,was backing Prasad. Yet,curious are the ways of Indian politics. At a
later stage Prasad started having second thoughts. Patel taunted him: “This
marriage is settled. But if the bridegroom wishes to run away,what can I do?”

So Prasad was duly elected president and the first clash between him and Nehru came
even before his swearing-in. He objected to the day — January 26 — fixed for the
republic’s inauguration “on astrological grounds”. Nehru’s reply was stinging: “I
am afraid,I have no faith in astrology and certainly I should not like to fix up
national programmes according to the dictates of astrologers.” (Incidentally,the
date was chosen because it was the 20th anniversary of the day the Indian National
Congress had vowed to achieve full independence.)

Shortly thereafter,the president’s insistence on inaugurating the rebuilt Somnath

temple,against the advice his prime minister,added to the friction between the two.
Nehru believed the Somnath project to be “contrary to the concept of secularism”
but he did not want to veto the president’s visit there either. His compromise
therefore was that Prasad should go in his personal capacity,not on behalf of the
government. This meant that Prasad must pay for the journey,which he did.

Though the two were always courteous to each other,the strain in their relations
was sometimes visible. On one occasion when the prime minister was going on a long
foreign visit,the president decided to set aside protocol and see him off. On
receipt of this message,Nehru,already at Palam,delayed his flight. But when much
time elapsed and there was no sign of Prasad,the prime minister asked the
president’s military secretary,“Is he walking?”
It was the Hindu Code Bill,a legislation to reform the Hindu personal law,to which
Nehru was totally committed,that Prasad used as the most potent weapon against the
prime minister,just as Tandon had done. The number of Congress party members
opposed to measure was also large though they preferred not to be vocal.
Consequently,the story of how the Hindu Code Bill was first stalled and then passed
piecemeal only after the election of the first Lok Sabha in 1952 is so long and
complex and involves so many characters,including the towering B.R. Ambedkar,that
it has to be told separately.

For the present,it would suffice to say that Prasad adroitly interlinked the Hindu
Code Bill issue with the president’s powers. In September 1951,he informed Nehru
that he wished to send a message to Parliament stating his fundamental objections
to the Hindu Code Bill. Nehru thought that this would be unconstitutional. After
consulting the attorney-general,M.C. Setalvad,who came into the picture several
times,Nehru replied to Prasad that he would resign “if the president insisted. I
regret to say that the president attaches more importance to his astrologers than
to the advice of his Cabinet on some matters. I have no intention of submitting to
the astrologers.”

Similarly,with the attorney-general backing his stand to the hilt,Nehru disabused

the president of the notion that he,acting on his own and without the advice of the
council of ministers,could withhold assent from the Hindu Code Bill if it was
passed.

When Prasad’s tenure was due to end,Nehru was confident that he would be able to
get Vice-President Radhakrishnan elected president. He liked Radhakrishnan and
intellectually the two were on the same wavelength. Patel had been dead for seven
years,and Nehru expected no hindrance. He was stunned therefore when strong
opposition came from his close friend and colleague,Maulana Azad. The Maulana said
that Prasad was a leader of the freedom movement,but when “I turn the pages of the
movement’s history I find no mention of Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan”. Nehru then
argued that one term for the president was enough,and that Prasad was getting on in
years,in any case,Azad retorted: “You and I are no spring chickens,Jawaharlal. If
Rajen Babu has to go,then we must also go.”

Nehru gave in,and Prasad got a second term that has been denied to all other
presidents,although each one of them wanted it and some tried hard to secure it.
Come to think of it,of the 17 years during which Nehru was prime minister,Prasad
was president for no less than 12.

The writer is a Delhi-based political commentator