Is Abdul Kalam the worst ever Indian President?

Outlook magazine columnist, Rajinder Puri, described Abdul Kalam as worst ever Indian President. He wrote the following sentences in his column “Bull’s Eye”:

“President Abdul Kalam is truly a wonderful human being. Of all the presidents in independent India, his record is perhaps the worst. He just does not have the will to take on the rogue political class.”

As per Puri, Abdul Kalam failed to protect the constitution in 2 instances:

1. Dissolution of Bihar Assembly. Kalam failed to stop the Manmohan Singh government’s illegal ordinance.

2. Office of profit bill. Kalam signed this unconstitutional bill though he has the power to delay or deny it. If he rejected it for the second time, more than 50-100 MPs were unseated.

Though the columnist rightly raised Kalam’s faults, it is too much to describe him as worst ever Indian President.

Is Kalam’s tenure worse than Fakhruddin Ali’s(who signed emergency bill)?

In my opinion, Abdul Kalam is the best Indian president in the recent times. He is the president of ordinary people. He mingled with army jawans and school children alike. He may have done one or two mistakes due to inexperience or to prevent constitutional crisis.

You can read the column in Outlook magazine dated April 9, 2007.

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