ELEMENTS OF HITCHCOCK IN KOVIND SELECTION
Alfred Hitchcock pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres. It seems Prime Minister Narendra Modi also fashions himself as a true student of Hitchcock. He always does the unexpected, ending high political dramas on the pattern of suspenseful thrillers of Hitchcock. Not many world leaders—at least, no one in India—has mastered the art of maintaining such a degree of suspense till the end. Once, a British film critic wrote that Hitchcock’s flair was “for narrative, withholding crucial information (from his characters and from the audience) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else”. See the way a masterly trail was created. A three-member committee of top ministers—Rajnath Singh (Home), Arun Jaitley (Finance and Defence) and K. Venkaiah Naidu (Information and Broadcasting)—was set up to interact with the opposition leaders to create atmosphere for a unanimous candidate. Jaitley was abroad but the other two ministers went around and announced that the NDA would “unveil” its candidate on 23 June, a day before Modi’s departure to the United States to meet President Donald Trump. However, BJP chief Amit Shah declared Kovind’s name on 19 June. Once Kovind is settled at India’s most famous address on the Raisina Hill, all the top three posts will stand occupied by persons from the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends the highest number of Lok Sabha MPs, who play—not always—an important role in choosing a Prime Minister. Modi is an MP from Varanasi, Rajnath is an MP from Lucknow, and the President-in-waiting (Kovind) hails from Kanpur Dehat. Modi will get the credit for giving India its second Dalit President, after K.R. Naraynan. Well, in the Presidential game, one must acknowledge, it was a Hitchcockian master stroke.