Pranab Mukherjee is the first person recently to have reached Rashtrapati Bhawan from active politics. As our politics becomes more and more notorious, should Presidency be made strictly an apolitical post? From the gutters of politics…

The NTMN View: Even if a President is a politician, he should not at least have been an active politician just before his Presidency. The President is a ceremonial post, and it should remain honorary—which certainly our politics fails to provide. Moreover, Mr. Mukherjee’s government has been accused of poor governance, and now that it is not his responsibility to deal with these issues, he has suddenly been seen calling corruption and the economy major issues the country faces.
On the day of the swearing in, the President’s caravan towards the Raj Ghat caused huge traffic jams in New Delhi, making many people reach their workplace late, and stuck in the heat. It is unfortunate that the First Citizen be so powerless (or indifferent?) in our country, that he should draw huge salaries for a ceremonial post, while his swearing in makes people get late for work, thus ending up losing their salaries for a half day. Our first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad drew a salary of just Rs 75 per month (not because it was recommended by the Constitution, but because he refused a higher salary). We need Presidents who can compete with his austerity; we need Presidents who are statesmen, not politicians.