During the last few days we have been treated to the spectacle of Mr. Varun Gandhi’s speech in his constituency and his clarifications thereon, ad nauseam.
As a cynical and passive observer of the Indian political scene, I feel amazed at the flagrant doublespeak of Varun and BJP. If the errant scion of Gandhi family did not deliver the ‘alleged’ speech, why couldn’t he set the records straight in unequivocal terms stating that those are not his convictions? Instead, he chose to clarify parts of that rabble rousing speech which were particularly offensive whilst retaining the core essence of Hindutva ( I am a proud Hindu etc). His clarifications were a juvenile and amateurish attempt at refuting the legal charges for Election Commission’s consumption, placating the media and people at the national level to appear moderate whilst retaining the Hindutva essence of his speech for the grass root workers in his constituency.
Varun Gandhi is just following the classic ruse adopted by BJP as a political entity. At the national level, the party projects a moderate face whilst at the grassroots level; it still promotes divisive communal politics for garnering votes. Isn’t it interesting to see that the only BJP leaders of national stature who have condemned the speech happen to be of Muslim origin! And I daresay they did it not because they are decent people but because they are worried about their vote bank. Others including Advani have conveniently kept quiet or sidestepped the issue. Isn’t it time our political leadership dealt with real issues like economy, growth, terrorism, infrastructure etc rather than play footsie with vote banks?
Lest anyone brand me as a blogger of left/centre/ right leanings, let me assure you that I have no love lost for the genre of politicians – be it of any hue and colour. I am a firm believer of the fact that the country has been badly let down by our political masters right since we gained independence. And if the political leadership has let the country down, a major portion of the blame lies with the middle class and the intelligentsia – THAT IS YOU AND ME for not participating actively in the process of democracy. We have deluded ourselves to think that we are too busy or the process is below our stature to get involved in!
ditto….2nd ur opinion
Sir,
You are venting your anger on Varun Gandhi who is immateur, what is your comment on Shiva sena who strongly praised Varun for his blabber. The only solution right now is get all this parties out of power, both Islamic as well as Hindu parties who are playing politics of religion. But as sheep in herd we still vote this people time and then leaving all the things back step, Consider Mr. jayaprakash Lok satta party in AP, that person is trying to cleanise this system by floating a party but irony is he doesnt have proper cadre. We should blame ourselves for all these. Kudos ADVANIJI/BALASAHEB/OWAISJI etc for fooling us all the time and every time.
Divide and Rule continues. If BJP is to blame , so is cong for harping on protecting the minorities in India every time single time they need votes.
Like I commented elsewhere, varun gandhi has made a gimmick out of himself, got his feet stuck in his mouth. Like some extraterrestrial being , out of nowhere here comes another Gandhi and hello! he gets a ticket to contest the elections too. His boorish comments reflect more of his amateur status [clinging to the superficial Hindutva idea] than party politics.
I didn’t like the kind of attention media was showering on Rahul Gandhi when he first appeared in the political arena, dubbing him as the prince of India !!
But I’m at least glad that the lad got down deep into the murky waters before trying out for elections.
He knows his game now, he knows India needs a youth vision. I was surprised beyond words when I read about Cong going solo in UP and Bihar. Agreed it’s a calculated risk but kudos to them for taking up this challenge knowing that RJD , LJP and BSP are the champs out there.
The differential treatment needs to stop based on religion or whatever. Infact, I believe the constitution needs a crucial amendment. Parties should no longer be allowed to be based on a certain religion’s norms or beliefs!!