Where did Nehru go wrong in stopping Dr. Rajendra Prasad from becoming the President, how did the situation turn around?

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was not in favor of Dr. Rajendra Prasad for President.

There was one presidential election when the Congress got divided due to lack of a candidate of the Prime Minister’s choice. But there came two consecutive occasions when despite not agreeing with the party’s choice, the Prime Minister bowed to the wishes of the majority. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was not in favor of Dr. Rajendra Prasad for President. But when the party took the decision, it was respected. On the other hand, his daughter Indira Gandhi supported V.V. against Congress’s official candidate Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy. Giri was fielded. Gave victory also.

This election became the reason for the historic split of Congress in 1969. However, Prasad’s differences with Nehru persisted during both his terms. On the occasion of the birthday of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, read some incidents related to this.

Nehru was in favor of Rajagopalachari

After Mountbatten’s departure from India, C. Rajagopalachari was made the Governor General. After the republic was declared on 26 January 1950, the members of the Constituent Assembly had to elect the President. Prime Minister Pandit Nehru wanted Rajagopalachari to remain in office and further assume the responsibility of the President. Even Sardar Patel did not disagree with this in the beginning. But due to majority of the members of the Constituent Assembly being in favor of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Patel had to change his stand. The main reason for opposition to Rajagopalachari was his leaving the Congress during the Quit India Movement of 1942 and his soft stance towards Jinnah on the question of Pakistan.

In later years, Rajagopalachari and Nehru came very close to each other. He also started thinking in the same way about the Hindu-Muslim problem. By this time the relations between Patel and Rajagopalachari had also improved a lot. But Patel never failed to call Nehru “the only nationalist Muslim in Congress” and Rajagopalachari as “half Muslim”.

Nehru’s advice to Rajendra Prasad

Prime Minister Nehru had to go on a foreign trip in October 1950. He wanted that before leaving, a consensus should be reached on the name of Rajagopalachari as President. The party’s Chief Whip Satyanarayan Sinha advised Nehru against the opinion of the members that Patel’s help would be necessary in this work. Patel was in Bombay those days. Nehru did not pay heed to Sinha’s opinion. He considered himself enough and sent a letter directly to Rajendra Prasad on 10 September 1950.

In this letter, Nehru expressed his displeasure over the ongoing rumors about the President and even the promotion of Rajendra Prasad by the members of the Constituent Assembly and considered it necessary to stop it immediately. Nehru also wrote that he had discussed this issue with Patel and he felt that it would be safest and best for Governor General Rajagopalachari to assume the post of President. The conversation that Nehru had referred to with Patel in his letter was the preliminary discussion about the post of President three months ago. Till then Patel was not aware of the stand of the members of the Constituent Assembly on this issue.

Nehru’s letter upset Prasad-Patel

This letter of Nehru hurt Dr. Rajendra Prasad who was the President of the Constituent Assembly at that time. In his reply he wrote that he was being asked to follow a decision for which even the normal courtesy of consulting him was not considered necessary. He expressed sadness that he was rejected without even giving him a chance. While offering his resignation from the Constituent Assembly, Prasad wrote that after this I will consider myself free from the decision of your choice.

Prasad expressed regret that he had hoped for a better farewell. Rajmohan Gandhi wrote in “Patel-A Life” that after this Rajendra Prasad wrote to Patel for justice. On the other hand, Nehru asked Patel to resolve the issue somehow. Nehru later admitted to Prasad that he had mentioned Patel’s consent in his letter without consulting Patel. But Nehru did not consider it necessary to give any explanation to Patel for this mistake. Patel felt bad and this became one of the reasons for his joining the Rajendra Prasad camp.

Members protest, Nehru threatens to resign

Nehru was adamant on the name of Rajagopalachari. On 5 October 1950, the eve of the beginning of his five-week foreign tour, he called a meeting of the Constituent Assembly (Provisional Lok Sabha) members. He himself proposed the name of Rajagopalachari. Immediately he had to face strong opposition from the members. One after another the members kept registering their objections in sharp words. Nehru turned to Patel for help but sat down after Patel’s silence. Then Patel stood up.

He pacified the angry members by saying that Nehru would not ignore their feelings. Advised that the decision on Presidential candidature should be postponed till Nehru’s return abroad. The decision was postponed but Nehru considered it his defeat. The same night he wrote a letter to Patel that he would resign from the post of Prime Minister after returning abroad. He considered the members’ opposition as disbelief in his leadership. He also wrote that he would write to the Governor General to invite Patel for the post of Prime Minister. Next morning Patel arrived to see off Nehru who was leaving for abroad. Told Nehru to give up the thought of resigning and forget what happened last evening.

But the groom remained in the palanquin

Even after his return from abroad, Nehru’s efforts to elect Rajagopalachari as President continued. He first proposed the post of Planning Commission Chairman and then Congress President for Rajendra Prasad. Patel was worried that Rajendra Prasad might lag behind. He told Dwarika Prasad Mishra that “if the groom does not run away leaving the palanquin, then the marriage is confirmed.”

Mishra wrote that the groom (Rajendra Prasad) was standing firmly in the palanquin, so the wedding guests did not need to worry. Rajendra Prasad rejected Nehru’s proposals saying that it would be a betrayal of his friends. It was certain that Rajendra Prasad would be elected President. With this Rajagopalachari withdrew his claim.

confrontation from the beginning

Within a few days of being elected President, Rajendra Prasad’s conflict with Nehru started. Pandit Nehru had objection to the President’s participation in the inauguration program of Somnath Temple after its reconstruction. According to him, the President’s presence in this program related to religious revival will give a wrong message. Prasad ignored Nehru’s advice, describing the Somnath temple as a symbol of resistance to a foreign invader. He said in his reply that I believe in my religion and I cannot separate myself from it.

Angered Nehru banned the official release of the program and the President’s speech. Hindu Code Bill became the second major issue of difference between them. There was widespread opposition to the bill. Prasad said that the temporary house does not have the trust of the public. It would be better to first take public opinion on this. In the eyes of Nehru and Dr. Ambedkar, Prasad’s thinking was reactionary. But Dr. Prasad was not ready to bow down.

In the first general elections, Congress received tremendous public support. After this, Dr. Prasad gave his consent to the Hindu Code Bill. Famous journalist Durgadas wrote in “India from Curzon to Nehru and After” that during his visit to Varanasi in 1952, Prasad had washed the feet of learned Pandits to show his respect. Nehru had expressed his displeasure on this. Prasad had replied to him that even a person holding the highest position in the country would be considered inferior in front of a scholar.

Nehru did not trust Rajendra Prasad

Despite differences, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was successful in getting the second term of the President. According to Durga Das, this time to block Prasad’s path, Nehru had suggested that since he was the Prime Minister of the North, it would be better for a distinguished person from the South to be the President.

In this connection, Nehru also held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of four states of South India. But these Chief Ministers showed no interest in selection on the basis of regionalism and suggested the re-election of Rajendra Prasad. There was a lot of ideological distance between Nehru and Prasad. After being elected President, Prasad also raised the issue of the rights of the President. In his address at a law institute, he had suggested legal experts to study the rights of the President under the Constitution. He disagreed with considering the President of India as equivalent to the British Queen and felt the need to establish appropriate traditions in this regard.

Durgadas has given another reason for the growing distrust between Nehru and Prasad in his book. Quoting Pandit Nehru’s then Home Minister Govind Ballabh Pant, he wrote that some courtiers were trying to poison Nehru’s mind that with the help of Sangh-Jana Sangh, Rajendra Prasad could topple the coup. According to Pant, Nehru wanted a President and Vice President who would stay away from politics.

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