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Comment by throwaway6497 | Hacker News Reader

Don't want to bring politics here. I just could not believe why in the world why Congress/Sonia wouldn't give him second term and brought in Pratibha Patil who abused her privilege as a President ( In news for changing her portrait picture N times because she didn't liked how she looked, Taking her whole extended family > 30+ to all foreign trips, and making Rashtrapati Bhavan a guest house/extended vacation place for them). Abdul Kalam inspired the children and young people of India. He was an icon. She did zilch. How could they disgrace Adbul Kalam and India like this? What were they thinking?

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> Don't want to bring politics here

Then you shouldn't have; but you chose to.

[Edit] Your comment says nothing about Dr. AK, but instead focuses on other people and other issues that IMHO have no relevance to this thread.

> Your comment says nothing about Dr. AK

Actually, it does. It ranks him favorably relative to others that held the same post.

There is no doubt that S Radhakrishnan and APJ Abdul Kalam were two greatest Presidents India had who made the most impact out of a ceremonial post (and not in a political way).

Dont forget KR Narayanan who refused to sign if proper procedures were not followed showing that President is not just a rubber stamp.

I was pointing out the irony that there was no political will to make Bharat Ratna (highest civilian award bestowed by Govt of India) APJ Abdul Kalam the President of India for a second term but get a dummy president instead. APJ is a gem of a person, an educationalist, an accomplished scientist and a person who can inspire generations of Indians.

When we are talking about his legacy as a President, it pains me that we didn't extend the Presidency platform to him for another term for the betterment of India.

It is pretty well known that Sonia Gandhi wanted a sycophant at the position of President and she achieved that by appointing a Gandhi family cook and the least inspiring lady as the President. Even with the limited powers that the office of President has in India someone like Kalam would had never been subservient to someone like the Gandhis and instead focused his energy (like his first term) on whatever he can do to inspire youth.

Dr. Kalam didn't want to run for a second term. He wanted to go back to his passion.

Please don't bring politics into it.

He very well wanted to run for the second term if he was elected unopposed. Go and read some news articles of the time period when the Presidential election happened.

"When a schoolgirl asked Dr Kalam why he did not accept President's post again despite demands from several quarters, he said: "You know you are simply a fantastic girl. Before becoming President, I was involved in teaching. I worked in the political system for five years. The job is over. Now I have come back to teaching and research." http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/sep/27slide2.htm

During the Q&A, a girl stood up and took the mic, she can't have been over 10 years old, and she asked him in plain English why he wasn't going to stand for President again when he was loved by every single person in the country. She asked the question that was on the minds of every Indian in the room. His response was measured, balanced and most of all inspirational. He commented that he wanted to return to his passion. That he was a scientist at heart, and that the country was in good hands.

Posted by kartikkumar

I also remember an article on The Hindu about this.

Yeah, he was going to explain a 10 year old girl the behind the scenes politics needed to get elected. This incident instead shows he was a great human being and he did not care whether he was elected again. It does not in any way explain what happened in the Presidential election.

well you've any credible reports that suggest otherwise ?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/kalam-surprises-third...

By the way my beef is with the fact that Kalam was undoubtedly the best choice to be the president for a second term. However as i mentioned above Sonia Gandhi (and the Congress) did not even consider his past record and instead nominated their own candidate who can never hold a candle to someone of the stature of Kalam. My objection is to the fact that you are claiming that 2007 presidential election were not political when in fact they were as political as anything in India gets. This is notable because Kalam had proven himself beyond any doubt.

Totally agree with you.

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