The election campaign in Uttar Pradesh has marked a new low—the young chief minister has been unable to resist intemperate language in an effort to embarrass the prime minister that he was later constrained to explain as ‘reacting’ to impolite charges levelled against him and his government. The Congress spokespersons have been foaming and frothing, deriding PM Narendra Modi for having lowered the dignity of his office.
Unfortunately, for them, NaMo chooses his ‘jumlas’ carefully—it’s difficult to pin him down with allegations of abuse. He is provocative and pugnacious and is not shy of ‘polarising’ imagery. But then, he has been demonised so much that no one expects him to mouth politically-correct polite platitudes in the middle of electoral battle. The PM is the most charismatic leader of his party and visibly enjoys the rough and tumble when the fight takes an ugly turn. He can, and often does, turn the table on an opponent who underestimates his retaliatory instinct. In this case, poor Akhilesh had to beat a hasty retreat crying out, “I don’t want to know anything” about the now unmentionable ‘beast of burden’—butt of jokes belonging to an endangered species found in Gujarat.
Akhilesh’s self-inflicted discomfiture was somewhat reduced by clean and crisp campaigning by his wife, Dimple. What a contrast to the much-hyped ‘Indira look-alike’ Priyanka Vadra! Incidentally, Dimple’s presence on the hotly-contested battlefront made everyone wonder why Priyanka and Rahul had suddenly withdrawn from campaigning for the Mahagathbandhan. When Priyanka tried to launch a ‘scathing’ attack on the PM and Amit Shah, the best she could do was to make a parochial appeal by highlighting that the duo were ‘outsiders’ and not ‘sons of the soil’.
This was in response to Modi requesting the voters to rally around him as the ‘adopted son’ of UP. Rather than drawing upon the cosmopolitan legacy and syncretic culture, she, too, succumbed to the temptation of divisive provincialism. It seems that it is not only the brother who is awaiting maturity.
Surrounded by fawning sycophants, the siblings live in a world of make-belief where for them what they say is the distilled essence of ‘Idea of India’. They are oblivious to the fact that in the eyes of the people, the martyrdom of their ancestors doesn’t bestow on them a birthright to rule for eternity. Sonia Gandhi appealing to the electorate of what are believed to be pocket boroughs of the Nehru-Gandhi clan through a letter, only made matters worse by indicating that the matriarch is no longer capable of steering the wrecked ship called Congress through choppy seas.
Ironically, the Assembly elections in the most populous state in the country were relegated to the status of a ‘sideshow’ in an instant by some stone-pelting students in Delhi. In what seemed like a horrible replay of the incidents on the JNU campus about a year ago, we were reminded of festering sores that can’t be treated by ‘First Aid’.
The ‘facts’ have been reported in great detail to bear repetition here. What needs to be underlined is that the right to freedom of expression guaranteed in our Constitution is not unlimited and can be curbed legally. While the first part should be appreciated by the students belonging to ultra-left and liberal-democratic-secular-progressive front, the second needs to be grasped by the ultra-patriotic members of the ABVP.
Under no circumstance can they take the law into their hands or act as vigilantes to silence dissent. Unfortunately, both in JNU and DU, unable to match the articulation of their aggressive opponents, they have resorted to bullying and browbeating. In the process, they have only succeeded in sullying the image and spoiling the reputation of the party they are affiliated to.
Video clips in news have shown the allegedly partisan (under instructions?) Delhi Police in very poor light. What is worse is none of the leaders in the ruling party has found it necessary to condemn the hooliganism of youngsters claiming to be supporters of the BJP-NDA.
Arun Jaitley was visibly at a loss for words defending the indefensible at an academic interaction in London. To our mind, such delinquency is no less ‘polarising’ than a hate speech.
At present, there is no dearth of individuals para-dropped to positions for which they are least qualified or suited and who keep blustering and blundering only to hurt their patrons’ electoral prospects.
Pahlaj Nihalani continues to conduct himself as Censor-e-Azam, gleefully imposing bans or ordering mutilating cuts, oblivious of the changing times and mores. Those who are at the helm of prestigious universities have learnt to live by knee-jerk reactions.
Cancelling invitations to academic guests presumed to be on the government’s list of suspects, or suspending faculty members who are believed to be guilty of inviting ‘anti-national elements’, is only playing into the hands of agents provocateurs.
Pushpesh Pant
Former professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
pushpeshpant@gmail.com