JD(U) president's FB post sparks debate on Presidency

Janata Dal-United(JDU) president Sharad Yadav’s post on ‘Facebook’ on Monday saying that a person of principle should be made the next President of India, has started a spirited debate on the social networking site; some of the respondents have suggested names like Anna Hazare, Ratan Tata,  Amitabh Bacchan,  Lata Mangeshkar, KJ Rao and Shridharan.

“President of India should be a person who stands by principles. There is no question of cast, any person you pick will be from some caste. There is little social impact by making somebody from a particular section of the society as the President,” Yadav has said in his post.

Through his post on the  popular social networking site, the JD(U) president has opposed the idea of giving any preference on the basis of caste or community. Though, he has not mentioned any religion, Yadav has made it clear to his opposition to chose someone from the minority community as the next  President  of the country. His assertion, “there is little social impact by making somebody from a particular section the President”, clearly indicates his point of view.  This also indicates that vice-president Hamid Ansari may not get JD(U)’s support, perhaps, due to RJD leader Lalu Prasad’s support to Ansari.  
However, it is not clear whom the JD(U) leader considers to be “the person of principles”. It is also not clear whether senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stands any chance for being placed in this category.

However, the comments posted on Facebook favour his idea that while choosing the next President, caste or religion should not be a criterion. However, majority of posts have denounced the“political class” and have expressed their desire  for a “non-political person”.

One of Yadav’s fans from Bihar, want him to be made an NDA candidate for the coveted post.  Though he opposed caste or religion being the criteria for selecting the presidential candidate, however, it has invited some harsh responses expressing doubts over the truthfulness of the leader.