India launches cult figure 'Missile Man' as its new president

The votes have been cast and there is little doubt that India's most celebrated rocket scientist will be elected as its 11th president today.

The first thing Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam will readily acknowledge is that his name is a mouthful.

But when he showed up in parliament during the voting ­ MPs and members of state legislatures elect India's president ­ reporters were keen to ask him about something else that is distinctive, his flowing locks. The nation wants to know: Will he have a haircut before he is sworn in next week or will India have a president who resembles an ageing rock star?

Mr Kalam, pushing 71, chuckled but would not clear up the mystery.

His simplicity and his almost ascetic lifestyle have helped bolster the myth of the selfless, patriotic scientist who has devoted his entire life to a single mission ­ making India into a major military power. He has stood up against Western sanctions and developed an indigenous technological capability for a range of military rockets. He has also supervised a series of underground nuclear tests and helped produce nuclear warheads.

Incredibly, even though Mr Kalam is lionised as the "Missile Man", his missiles do not work. None of the battlefield missiles developed by the government-owned defence manufacturer he headed for years are of any use to the armed forces. As for his surface-to-surface missiles, the range of is considered too short to be effectively deployed against Pakistan, while another doesn't go far enough to threaten China.