Priyanka
Vadra barged into political scene to stem the sagging fortunes of Congress that
could no longer be hidden and perhaps also because someone within Congress mustered
enough courage to carry the bad news to high command. She came with an express
intent to canvas for her brother and mother. No one asked her “what about
political conviction’?
The
moment she announced her entry, as if on a cue, the big TV channels, got stuck
to her as parasites and tormented the otherwise uninterested viewer with visuals
of this gawky woman balancing on pile of bricks.
P
Vadra is a known phenomenon that surfaces up the electoral waters only during
campaign seasons. She is also not known for her statements that will stir
thinking person’s gray matter either. But NDTV’s Barkha Dutt averred that
Priyanka is the leader of 2019, based on what political achievement of
Priyanka, only Barkha Dutt is privy to. However, SM credits Barkha of being not
only in the know of secretive deals and also of taking active fixing roles. So one
will have to trust her on this.
It
is still a wonder how the Times camera team managed to balance themselves over
their own drool as they gave uninterrupted coverage to her. But it must be said
that all English channels, including CNN-IBN followed P Vadra picking up the
gems of political wisdom as and when she deigned to drop one.
These
Channels’, a.k.a ‘Media Traders’ infatuation and awe of the dynasty can be
explained by years of taking alms and the slavery ingrained in their genes. Nothing else can explain the disproportionate
coverage given to P Vadra by all and the sundry. Her resemblance to her grandmother was
one of the strongest political statements the ‘Mediatraders’ carried without
any shame.
As
political assertions, P Vadra’s statements can be reduced the following
1.
BJP scurries like rats
2.
I am Rajiv’s daughter
3.
Smriti who?
4.
My father died for the country. My father was
martyred.
Obviously
there is a large and famous wounded game in the political forest and the
predators are prowling. The smell of
blood is wafting across the Amethi’s electoral woods. Smriti has nothing to
lose and Rahul everything. The Gandhi
family has been drawing the political dividend from Amethi’s emotional capital
but a new generation may spring surprise.
In
this context, we also saw in Modi’s Amethi meeting, BJP not ‘scurrying as rats’,
but growling. Modi laid the hollowness of such ill-conceived words of P Vadra bare
by tearing into Gandhi’s family that, licking his wounds, Salman Kurshid had to
say that ‘BJP should have shown some courtesy by not campaigning in Amethi. The
crowd in Amethi was unprecedentedly large; one may not know if Smriti would
emerge winner, but the common agreement is that surely she is putting up a worthy
fight. The margin of win, if Rahul wins at all, is going to be greatly reduced.
Win is not out of reach now for BJP and so much meat in P Vadra’s claim that
BJP ‘scurries as rats’. They were at your backyard, snarling, and there was no one to shoo them away!
Modi
stole ‘Priyanka is a daughter’ debate not by word play, but on the strength
of honesty and truth. The MSM painted a crude picture of Modi, aided by the
State’s channel editing critical parts of the interview under instruction of
motor-mouth Minister. And P Vadra, as usual made crass, crude and disrespectful
comments and finally stood alone, with mud on her face. Shame did not deter
her, it appears.
Perhaps
P Vadra thought of herself as Indian ‘Dorothy Parker’ when she attempted to belittle
Smriti asking ‘Smriti who’? That jibe was mean and hypocritical, because as
proxy, P Vadra was in Amethi defending their family turf against the very same 'Smriti who' that was getting more
and more encroached upon by the political rivals, mainly BJP. Smriti was wearing
her shoes off, traveling the width and breadth of Amethi constituency, dignity
personified. P Vadra made a mistake of her life when she attempted to insult
Smriti, calling her inconsequential.
And
it has stung BJP and as a result BJP has gone for the kill today as Modi spared
none from the Congress dynasty. It has added to BJP’s determination to bare
its fangs, bare its fangs it did and with what style?
I
have no quarrels if P Vadra says her father was murdered. But if she calls
Rajiv Gandhi a martyr, it is claiming more credit than Rajiv is due. Rajiv was
killed by Sri Lanka based Tamil Tigers, a fact that has been proven beyond doubt. The
cause of that was, the enmity sworn by Prabhakaran as he thought he was double
crossed by Rajiv.
First
of all, the seeds of discord between Sri Lanka and India were co-sowed by Indira
Gandhi when she authorized training of Sri Lankan terrorists in Indian soil. She fed the monster
that killed Rajiv. I am definitely not saying she was responsible for Rajiv’s
death but was the one who set the dice rolling, unaware that it will one day
kill her only surviving son.
When
Prabhakaran was in Delhi, the grapevine is, ill-advised by people he trusted,
Rajiv put Prabhakaran under house arrest to get the latter to sign the Peace
accord.
Another
theory, found here http://ibnlive.in.com/news/secret-of-rajivprabhakaran-meet/14464-3-1.html
, says that Rajiv reneged on an agreement that was signed based on
consideration of questionable origin and one that resulted in Prabhakaran avenging
by ordering Rajiv’s threat.
How
do you fit in the ‘martyr’ piece in this scandalous, dishonorable story? Rajiv
did a lot of good, had good intentions, though he patronized his wife’s
friends who collected commission on his behalf. He stirred the Telecom revolution
in India, backed Pitroda to the hilt are all OK, but to claim he died a martyr
is selling political snake oil. Rajiv died because he double crossed, notwithstanding
the fact, the person double crossed was no Dharmputra. But he double crossed
and paid for his amateurish antics in politics, a game sublime minds find hard
to play well. He died in a turf war he picked with a nefarious character he
elected to deal with.
So
let us be done with this balderdash of thrusting martyrdom on Rajiv. The fact
he died the way he did, in the hands of terrorists in Indian soil is really sad
and deplorable. But that does not make him a martyr.
****
Media
is replete with reports linking DMK and Rajiv, going as far as claiming that it
was DMK ideology that inspired the killing of Rajiv. The Jain commission has
this to say.
“The Jain Commission has said
the encouragement given by the DMK, while it was in power, to the LTTE,
ultimately enabled the LTTE to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi.” (see http://m.rediff.com/news/dec/03cho.htm
)
And
it was the same DMK that Congress allied with, led by Sonia Gandhi, the widow
of Rajiv Gandhi, who S Vadra claims incorrectly as being martyred. If S Vadra
is so upset with her father’s death, that sometimes she sees non-existent
martyrdom in it, why is she not upset with her mother for joining hands with
people accused to have had a hand in the killing of her father? Bewildering, is
it not?
However,
finding Congress in bed with people having aided her father’s death does not
bother her as much as Modi saying that Gandhis did not pay attention to the
progress of Amethi. P Vadra says that people of Amethi will not forgive Modi
for his utterances. But is it not a wonder that Amethi forgave Congress for
allying with political parties accused of aiding Rajiv’s killing?
I
would conclude, she finds the political opponents more disagreeable to the
killers of her father. Something is
wrong with priorities. What is it?
At
the end of the day, the pretense is over protecting the ill-gotten wealth in
friendly Congress ruled states buying and selling land. It is over the special
privileges accorded to the dynasty. It is the ‘let them eat cake’ attitude of
the Antoinette that will spell political doom for the dynasty. It is the
privileges enjoyed without earning any of it. It is living the life of a feudal
lord in a democratic country. It is the benefit the family derives from the gullibility
of electorate wastefully preferring to be associated with VIP constituency over
economics. It is never having known the
sweat of toil. It is never having lived as Indian. It is the sum of all this arrogance.
dwimidha@gmail.com
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