A politician from India’s lowest and poorest caste is poised to be elected president, only the second person to become the titular head of state from the community once condemned as “Untouchables”.
Ram Nath Kovind, 71, a former governor of Bihar, India’s poorest state, and the nominee of Narendra Modi, the prime minister, was the runaway favourite as voting began yesterday.
His promotion is widely seen as a bid by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to broaden its appeal across caste lines before the 2019 general election.
Almost 4,900 MPs and state legislators cast their votes with, for the first time, both leading candidates drawn from the lowest caste. Mr Kovind and Meira Kumar, who is backed by the opposition Congress party, are Dalits, once considered impure and shunned for thousands of years.
“The presidential poll this time is historic. Probably for the first time no party has made any undignified or unwarranted comment on the rival candidate,” Mr Modi tweeted before the poll. “Every political party has kept in mind the dignity of this election.”
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The presidency of India is a largely ceremonial role, although nominally the head of state and the armed forces. The president cannot block legislation and executive powers are effectively carried out by the prime minister. He or she retains significant constitutional power, however, and prime minsters have usually sought to maintain cordial relations with the president’s office.
Mr Modi, bidding to reboot a struggling economic and social agenda, also wants the presidency in his corner. The electoral battle of Dalit versus Dalit has been hailed as a step forward in some quarters but as deeply cynical in others.
Despite the achievements of landmark figures, the 200 million lowest-caste Indians suffer routine discrimination and there have been caste riots in the north in recent weeks. Across India, discrimination on caste, class, religion and gender grounds is rampant.