The Indian president lives in a Lutyens palace formerly occupied by the country’s viceroys, replete with ballroom, cinema, and Mughal gardens. I’ve been inside to interview the current incumbent, Pratibha Patil. With 360 rooms, it’s a big house for a small person and you can get lost – indeed recently, Patil reportedly did go missing for three hours until located by a team of commandos. The Head of State is somewhat removed from the cut and thrust of Indian politics so presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee is looking forward to relaxing there after the election on July 19, 2012.
Like an endlessly sliding Sid the Sloth in Ice Age, The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government is holding on with the edge of its fingernails as it flounders in its second term. Corruption, inflation, currency weakness and an emerging mafia of powerful chief ministers have left it paralysed. Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi had to choose a candidate with unassailable credentials to win over the thousands of Members of Parliament and State Assemblies in order to get a friendly face elected to the nation’s highest constitutional post.
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