An emergency light goes off
The office of the President is like an emergency light. It comes on automatically when there is a crisis and goes off automatically when the crisis passes.
One such Great, R Venkataraman is no more. From North Block to Rashtrapati Bhavan, he brought dignity to every office he held. While criticising the Janata Government after taking over as the Finance Minister, he told Parliament,
“I have referred to the developments in the past three years not with a view to apportion blame or trade accusations but merely to highlight the historical setting in which our current problems have to be viewed. This is clearly not the time for indulging in mutual recriminations. The real challenge is to evolve a viable national consensus for solving the formidable problems now facing the country. In this vital national task, we seek the active cooperation of all sections of this House. I would like to take this opportunity to share with the House the manner in which we are tackling the present grave economic crisis.”
May His Soul rest in Peace.