Bhubaneswar, Nov. 28: Late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had thought of resigning when the Supreme Court quashed the presidential proclamation dissolving the Bihar Legislative Assembly without allowing then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to prove his majority on the floor of the house.
After Bihar Governor Buta Singh had recommended the dissolution of the legislative assembly in 2006, the Union cabinet approved it and forwarded the same to the President, on a visit to Moscow at that time, for his approval, Mr. S.M.Khan, Press Secretary to the President during Kalam’s tenure in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, said on Saturday.
Mr. Khan, presently Director General of the RNI, recalled his days with the late President in a lecture titled “My Days with the Greatest Human Soul Ever” at the SOA University here.
Though Kalam was reluctant, he signed the proclamation. He could have rejected it but would have had no option but to sign the same if it was sent to him for the second time, Mr. Khan said.
When the apex court quashed the proclamation, Kalam was penitent saying he should have rejected the cabinet’s decision and thought of resigning from his post. “He even consulted his elder brother in Rameswaram, Mr. Khan said adding he decided against any such step as it would have triggered a lot of constitutional problems.
Describing Kalam as a person who was completely detached from material things, he said the late President did not own anything, be it a house, a car, a television or a refrigerator.
“Almost all his life as a scientist and teacher, he lived in hostels and guest houses. But his only possession were his books. And he insisted that he should buy his books and never took any book from any one as a gift saying chances were that he would not read them,” he said.
The technology-savvy President once informed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that he intended to meet his cabinet members as he wanted to explain to them about his vision for a developed India by 2020, a pet theme for him till the last, through a power point presentation.
Though the Prime Minister was not convinced, he agreed to the proposal and a cabinet meeting was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Kalam took the PM and other ministers through the presentation spread over two hours.
He had a penchant for power point presentations and would insist on the same even when he was meeting foreign dignitaries and head of states. When President George Bush visited him in 2006, he made him sit through a presentation, Khan who was present during the talk, recalled.
After the presentation ended, Bush told him “Sir, it needs to be a scientist to understand this. But we will work on this.”
Mr. Khan said that when Kalam’s tenure was coming to an end, there was intense media speculation as to whether he would be offered a second term in the high office.
The then UPA government, however, was not in favour of Kalam getting a second term though some political leaders urged him to contest as an independent. The idea got a boost when the BJP, which had set up Mr. Bhairon Singh Sekhawat as its candidate against UPA’s Ms. Pratibha Patil, hinted that it might even pull out its candidate and support Kalam as an independent.
But Kalam declined to contest.
Kalam had great interest in religion and spiritual matters too. He would often say that “all religions were beautiful islands but there was no connectivity between them,” Mr. Khan said.
Though a renowned scientist, he felt science and religion working together could achieve wonders, the former aide said.
The meeting was presided over by the Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Amit Banerjee. The University’s registrar, Prof. B.B.Pradhan and Editor of Odia daily ‘The Prameya’, Mr. Gopalkrushna Mohapatra were present.
