New Delhi: With the presidential elections
set to take place in July, a little-known political outfit
from Tamil Nadu headed by a former bureaucrat today demanded
that a Christian be chosen for the top Constitutional post.
P Sivakami, President of Samuga Samathuva Padai (SSP),
appealed to the people to raise their pitch for selection of a
Christian as the next President of India.
"For the last 60 years we have not had a single Christian
President. Why so? They say this (President's) post is above
caste, creed and religion. If that is the case, then they
should select a President from the Christian minority
community," she told a press conference here.
A prolific writer, Sivakami said people of the country
should discuss the issue of candidates for the Presidential
elections due in July this year.
"Political parties have already started lobbying for
people and the press has started floating names of possible
candidates. Before that, the public must discuss the issue,"
she said.
Refusing to suggest names of possible candidates from the
community, she said it was up to leaders concerned to propose
the names.
"If merit is the only concern for this post then why did
they distinctly mention the Dalit background of former
President KR Narayanan or highlight Prathiba Patil's gender?
The leaders should keep this question in mind while choosing
the Presidential candidate," she said.
As part of its campaign for a Christian candidate, SSP
organised a conference in Chennai and met top religious
leaders and will hold similar campaigns in Thiruvananthapuram,
Hyderabad, Chennai and Bhubaneswar.
"We will also meet the Prime Minister and major political
parties and discuss the issue," she said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 23, 2012, 19:05