The thrice banned Rasthriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS) will get the ultimate political legitimacy today as its own “saffron soldier”Ram Nath Kovind will be elected to the most coveted job in Indian politics — “Mahamaheem” (President of the Republic of India).

Kovind’s elevation is proof of the long journey travelled by the RSS – from the pariahs of politics to now sitting atop the entire establishment. In fact Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, and by extension the larger Sangh parivar will soon be dominant in the system nearly without any checks and balances.

The BJP enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha, the numbers of the Rajya Sabha are set to change early next year giving them a clear margin there as well. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will change next month. And, the opposition is still reeling from the gargantuan electoral hunger of the 52-year-old BJP president, Amit Shah and “Congress mukt Bharat’’ (job done). Congress rules barely 6 percent of India and except Karnataka rules no large state has moved on to “opposition mukt Bharat (hugely fraught prospect in a democracy) but, dangerously close to coming true.

I spoke to a number of BJP leaders who did not wish to be identified but said that Kovind’s elevation, besides being a final stamp of the Sangh’s authority, would also ensure that Modi got a President who he was entirely comfortable with, specially with the general elections due in 2019.

“Modi has played by the Indira playbook. First he rendered a vibrant cadre with all power concentrated in Modi and Shah. Any senior leader who could be a challenge to them has been consigned to the old age home devised by Shah (margdarshak mandal) which has not even met once. All newly won state CM’s are their choices including the controversial Yogi Adityanath and now even the house on top of Raisina Hill will have their nominee,” one of them said.

In an earlier interview, former BJP leader turned fierce Modi critic Arun Shourie had said that “Modi is ensuring the Indirafication of the BJP”.

Modi’s critics within the BJP who were also in the running for the President’s job are mighty upset. One said, “Modi has decided that he will never have a relationship of equality. He used to keep telling me I am your “chela” (disciple). It is now clear that he is the ultimate Guru.’’

While the schadenfreude is unmistakable, Modi and Shah did have a historic chance to make an independent person with proven credentials President. Instead, they chose to go with cold blooded political calculations. Kovind, a Dalit, took the wind out of the oppositions sails with Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar promptly defecting to the NDA camp on Kovind. This caused a political earthquake the opposition is still reeling from. It caused a rift in the mahagatbandhan (grand alliance) and is still making the Bihar government ruled jointly by JDU and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) with the Congress as a junior partner look wobbly.

One BJP leader perceived as close to Modi said, “We have clinically broken opposition unity. They are always reactive and chose to put up a dynastic Dalit against our “self-made Dalit.’’

Kovind, a lawyer by profession, is an excellent move on the chess board of Indian politics currently dominated by Shah and Modi. The duo loves keeping the opposition and the media guessing and pulling off “spectaculars’’. While Kovind is a “sober surprise”, Adityanath was a “wild one”, to play to the base, a BJP leader said gleefully. However, both choices reflect a singular focus on 2019.

So what sort of President will Kovind be? He is known to be a non-controversial stickler for the rule book, eschewing any extremist stand. As a lawyer practising in the Supreme Court he maintained a low profile unlike other BJP leader lawyers such as Ravi Shankar Prasad. While, he was on the BJP panel of spokesmen, and used to religiously turn up at 11 Ashoka Road, the TV bite collectors used to shun him to get bites from more recognisable faces. Ironically Kovind was always extremely well briefed. Kovind is known to be particularly close to Shah and apparently also advised him on his legal travails. Rajnath Singh is also known to be fond of him and wanted a larger role for him in UP. Now Kovind has the largest canvas in the country.

Our Presidents have been a mixed bag. From the erudite Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan–the second president of India, who was a philosopher statesman–to Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed who obediently signed on the dotted line to proclaim Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, to Giani Zail Singh who boasted he would even sweep the floor for her and then turned Rasthrapati Bhavan in to a den of political intrigue against her son Rajiv Gandhi, to the universally admired missile man APJ Kalam and the dud presidency of the first woman President, Pratibha Patil.

In the case of Patil, in a first ever move P Chidambaram, as Union Home Minister had to turn down her “exorbitant demands” to do up her post retirement home in Pune. While Kalam was a rabbit pulled out of Pramod Mahajan’s hat, the veena playing scientist emerged as a “people’s president” drawing universal acclaim. The first Dalit President and the 10th President of India KR Narayayan set himself up as a first citizen by exercising his right to vote and giving interviews. He also sent back requests from the government, once by IK Gujral in 1997 seeking to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government in UP and once by Atal Bihari Vajpayee seeking to dismiss the Rabri Devi government in Bihar. In both the cases, the cabinet honoured the President’s reservations.

Kovind’s immediate predecessor Pranab Mukherjee likes to say he is a “copy book” president. While he has been no pushover for the Modi government, he did sign on to around 14 ordinances designed by the government to bypass the Rajya Sabha including the controversial land bill ultimately withdrawn by the government.

A BJP leader boasted, “The media has tried so hard to dig up dirt on Kovind. Did you find anything?” However, being controversy free is not really enough of a qualification to be the first citizen. Kovind will have to withstand 24/7 scrutiny and all his actions will be judged on the hardest whetstone.

While his relations with the government are likely to be amicable he will be judged as how he acts as an arbiter. The President not only swears in the government but, can also be an excellent sounding board for the PM. However, Modi does not seem to need confidants or advise  and is supremely confident of all his decisions including the ill-starred ones such as “demonetisation”.

Ideologically, this is the first time that someone from a Sangh background will take office. Politicians across the spectrum are viewing the choice with trepidation. A Congress leader said, “The President cannot just be a rubber stamp specially with a PM who is as authoritarian as Modi. We need to preserve vital checks and balances.’’

Kovind’s ascension is a formal coming out party of the Sangh and as the first “saffron president”, he will have a lot to prove.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @bainjal.

[opiniontag]