He has the will but not the way. He wants to be the President of India but don’t want to quit his government job!
When National Democratic Alliance’s Presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind is set for a comfortable victory against the opposition’s Meira Kumar, Chandigarh resident Vijay Kumar wants the cancellation of the election process and his appointment as the next President.
An assistant engineer with the Chandigarh Housing Board, 47-year-old Kumar has been vying to contest the Presidential elections since 2012.
But since he is a government employee and requires a no objection certificate (NOC) for contesting the election, the same has been denied to him citing service rules.
But in his bid to get the NOC or the permission to contest the election, Kumar has relentlessly taken his fight to the Supreme Court (SC), the President and Election Commission (EC) without success.
Vijay Kumar had written letters to the current President and EC to terminate the Presidential elections till his case was decided. But to his disappointment, the EC went ahead with the announcement of Presidential elections saying it's a time bound exercise.
Giving reason for his desire to be the President, Kumar said it resulted from the harassment and humiliation he faced while getting patent for a ‘flushing device’ invented by him.
“I applied for the patent of this water saving device in 2006 but got the patent certificate in 2016 after lots of struggle. I am an inventor but was made to face humiliation at the hands of even the lower-level officials in the Union government,” he said.
“Therefore, I decided to be the President so that no other is made to face the such a humiliation. The system works top to bottom. So one can do good only if he is at the top,” Kumar added.
Asked why is he not resigning from his job to contest the election, Kumar said he would not resign as there is no guarantee that he will win the election and his family is dependent on his salary.
As he is aware that he no way he can win election without any political party’s support, Kumar has urged the President to ‘create’ one more post for the President of India.
“I have a patent in my name. I have intellectual quality to be the President,” he said while quoting his correspondence with the SC, EC and the President since 2012 over the same demand.
Asked if his family and office colleagues support him, Kumar said it's an individual fight. “My office colleagues don't say anything but they do appreciate my fight. My family is also with me,” he said.