A scientist who became a politician

Krishan Kant, the Indian Vice President who died of a massive heart attack yesterday morning, gave up a career as a scientist to join politics.

He was a leading freedom fighter when India was under the British colonial rule and had served as governor of Andhra Pradesh for seven years before being elected as the republic's vice president in August 1996.

His sudden death, while the process to elect his successor is already on, has created a unique situation as there is no tradition or provision under the Constitution to appoint a caretaker vice president. The federal cabinet, after its emergency meeting, decided to seek the opinion of constitutional experts.

According to constitutional expert Devendra Dwivedi, the post has fallen vacant and can be filled only through election.

"Provisions have only been made in the Constitution to appoint an acting president and prime minister. This will now mean that the new vice president, who is scheduled to be elected on August 12 will have to be sworn-in earlier than the originally scheduled August 21 as the vice president-elect cannot be kept in waiting while the post lies vacant," Dwivedi, a former additional attorney general, told Gulf News yesterday.

Kant was seen as a true social democrat and executed his role as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Parliament, in the most dignified manner.

Kant had read President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's speech in Hindi during the presidential swearing-in ceremony on Thursday. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and leader of the opposition Sonia Gandhi were among those who rushed to the hospital on hearing about his death.

Kant was scheduled to go down in history as only the fourth vice president to be denied the opportunity to become the president. His name was in the reckoning as the candidate for both the presidential and vice presidential polls.

However, with his death, just 25 days before his scheduled retirement, Kant became the first serving vice president to die in office.

Kant was born in 1927 in the northern state of Punjab into the family of a prominent member of the Congress party, which has ruled India for most of the years since independence but is now in opposition.

He began his career as a scientist with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research but soon joined the Congress party and took part in Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent campaign that led to the end of British rule in 1947.

However, Kant was expelled by the Congress party in 1975 and joined the opposition after falling out with then prime minister Indira Gandhi over her decision to impose Emergency.

Kant was first elected an MP in 1966 and remained a member of the upper house for 11 years.

Before becoming vice president he was governor of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh in 1989, where he supported an anti-liquor movement that led to the imposition of dry laws in the province.

An ardent supporter of India's nuclear programme, Kant was a member of a government-sponsored military think-tank, the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.

A connoisseur of Urdu poetry, Kant was a prolific writer and contributed articles to prominent newspapers and magazines on national and international politics, culture and science.