Its crunch time with the presidential elections, as anyone with a television will tell you, there's a new possible candidate everyday, and the word with all the currency is Consensus.

The Congress, the allies and the left chose their nominee with er.... great care - rejecting over a dozen names to finalise a non-controversial, non-ambitious, non-man. And now that they have a woman for candidate- they would like everyone to get right behind her. As a woman, they say Pratibha Patil, deserves a consensus.

The NDA- had to be different, so, after announcing its candidate much quicker than the UPA, it then made Vice-President Shekhawat a non-candidate. It's President Kalam for President they now say, and all of us should get behind him. The president himself says he will only stand if there's certainty over his winning. Consensus.

Technically, I am on both sides- (and it really isn't because I am half Maharashtrian and half Tamilian J). But I think they're both great candidates- and I think we deserve an election.

After all let's look at our choices- Patil is a veteran politician, not distinguished at the national level perhaps, but no mean bio-data. Elected MLA for more than 2 decades, 3 time state minister, a lawyer by training, and a conscientious state governor by all descriptions. She may be unknown around the country, but equally there is no stain attached to her, no cases of corruption, no allegations she tried to play games with the Rajasthan government by siding with the centre during her tenure. She's made comments that have caused some controversy- but none that would disqualify her from the post. She isn't the first woman to stand for president, but is certainly the only one with a chance of winning so far. Not the first choice but the one that counts, the one that won the nomination at the end. Surely she deserves to be a presidential candidate?

And then there's Kalam. Our lovable, long-haired scientist who has built a lasting legacy at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Coming from the world of missiles, neutrons and protons, fission and fusion, Kalam has literally broken down the barriers around the presidential office, and many now call him the People's President. Like Princess Diana, he reached out over the heads of political leaders- directly to the people he met. And made lakhs of fans and friends, young and old. He spoke to them in words they understood (Repeat after me, he would begin...).

He put a 'Children's Corner' on his official presidential website. My kids were amongst thousands of students who wrote him birthday cards each year. He became the accessible face of an otherwise inaccessible establishment.Surely he should be in the presidential race?

And surely India deserves a presidential race?

During every election, local, state, and parliament, I hear the same crib from those I meet- why bother voting, when your choices are so lousy. Why go and choose between the feudal, and the openly communal, the corrupt, the criminal or the rioter. What about an option on the ballot paper for 'none of the above', they say?

Well I say, revel in our choices for president today, even though none of us will actually get to vote in this election, and even though those choices are bound to change by tomorrow.

Have a debate on merit for once, not on caste and family, region, and religion. And take pride in people wanting to run for office, not turning it down, just because they may or may not win.

Consensus is for feudal empires, I say, not for democracies.