High on symbolism, less intense in terms of the way the numbers will actually crunch. That is the way the essay to elect a successor to Mr Pranab Mukherjee has been scripted after the Congress-led 17 Opposition parties in settling on Mrs Meira Kumar as their nominee for the upcoming poll. Since only a turn of events as unexpected as at the Oval last Sunday will hinder the BJP/NDA choice of Mr Ram Nath Kovind attaining the highest of Constitutional offices, the query that arises is what does the “contest” symbolises? It has been reduced to a Dalit versus Dalit affair, a case of “my Bihari is better than yours”. True that both Mr Kovind and Mrs Kumar have generally blemish-free track-records, but do either exude the eminence that the high office demands? Perhaps the only saving grace is that only on very few occasions have the people, albeit through their elected representatives, been given the challenge of choosing one of two truly outstanding candidates. The “system” ensures that the “national cookie” crumbles in accordance with the way the numbers stack up: mostly by accident rather than design does the palace on the hill get a genuinely lofty occupant.

Without even thinking of casting a slur on Mrs Meira Kumar’s credentials, she would have to concede that she was picked by Sonia Gandhi & Co only to try and negate the impact of the Modi-Shah duo playing the Dalit card ~ for their narrow political purposes. Had Mrs Kumar been the Opposition’s first preference (there was, reportedly, some hard bargaining involved) her name would have been “mentioned” much earlier. Hindsight would suggest that had she been thus favoured the BJP might have found itself under pressure. She will ever have to “carry the cross” of being an essentially “reactionary” choice.

It is worth noting that Gopal Krishna Gandhi (whose reputation is not based entirely on his ancestry) indicated he was no longer interested after the Dalit card had been played. Recall Mayawati declaring that she would support Kovind unless the rest of the Opposition also played the “deprived section” game. And that Mrs Kumar was evaluated as the best among another few Dalits ~ the “field” had been thus narrowed down. The claim that a “battle of ideologies” is being fought rings somewhat hollow; that bane of Indian electoral politics ~ “winnability” ~ has proved contagious enough to infect the road leading to Raisina Hill.

For all the euphemisms (such as identity politics), the pundits and their media brethren may use, the fact remains that divisions dictate political developments. Neither Mrs Kumar nor Mr Kovind can be deemed guilty of causing that, yet in the larger interests of the democratic polity this brand of symbolism could prove suicidal.