Mystery: Did He, Or Did He Not

It is a bit of a mystery whether LK Advani went near the Bharatiya Janata Party office on Ashoka Road in Delhi or not. He was supposed to attend the Parliamentary Board meeting to decide the nominee for prime minister which was being held at the office. A couple of TV channels, who were then running live minute-to-minute commentary on what was happening, said that Advani’s car was in the portico of his house on Prithviraj Road and his security was ready.

Then they reported that Advani had moved out and was going towards the BJP office. A few minutes later, the TV channels reported that he was back without getting down. Now the mystery or controversy as one decides to choose—did he go at all, and if he did, why did he return?

Various versions have compounded the confusion more. One media report said Advani was ready to go when somebody told him that some people carrying black flags were shouting slogans against him. Advani then decided not to go.

Another report said that despite the refusal of his conditions before accepting Modi’s nomination, Advani wanted to go and read out his objections which would then go into records. But then did he go or not? He did not clarify.

After considering all the commentaries on TV and the newspaper reports it seems more likely that he went there but seeing the huge crowd in front of the BJP office chanting Mod’s name, he came back. A cadre leader said, “Shri Advaniji is not afraid to see his anti-crowds. But what must have made him return was the fear that if he made objections to Shri Modiji’s nomination, we would boo and shame him when he emerges from the meeting.”

The Truth will emerge much later.

Tallest Leader’s Anger Or Anguish

The level of manners is the best benchmark for the culture of a person. If this is applied to LK Advani when he was at Ram Jethmalani’s dinner, he would come poorly. Jethmalani recently hosted a diner on his 90th birthday, where both Advani and the man he hates the most Narendra Modi were also invited.

Modi, as he has always done, touched the feet of Advani, who reportedly did not respond.   Jethmalani then invited Modi to sit on the host’s chair to the right of which Advani was sitting. The latter must have felt insulted that he was not invited to sit on it. However, Modi declined saying it was Jethamalani’s day.

But the question remains why Advani reportedly did not touch Modi’s head when he touched the former’s feet. He could have, as a funster put it, instead of saying bless you, Advani could, while touching Modi’s head, have said “Drop Dead”.

Hypocrisy Without Shame

Dr Manmohan Singh, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul visited riot-hit areas in Muzaffarnagar. One can imagine the passive face of Dr Singh while Muslims spoke of their horror, loss of lives, which must have made them wonder if he could listen at all. However, after visiting the villages, where Muslims had suffered terribly, the trio left for Delhi. Before leaving, Dr Singh assured that strict action would be taken against those who rioted, looted and killed their family members and relatives.

In the process of going and returning, the three left behind disappointment and anger. They have managed to lose the votes of Jats. So, whatever chances their candidates have ended. Then when in Delhi Dr Singh was back to his hypocritical best. In Delhi, he said law and order was a state subject, which means his assurance to Muslims that offenders would be caught and convicted was just wiping their tears and then throwing the napkin.

Of course, the three were hailed saviours, while meeting the Muslims. Some even shouted Rahul Gandhi zindabad. Thus, Dr Singh and the Gandhis felt confident of the backing of the minorities. But what about the Jats?

The trio has managed wonderfully to alienate them. They are livid at them for not visiting their villages. The Gandhis had stopped at a village of Jats for a few minutes on the advice of a local. But Sardarji, great secular that he is, did not even look in the direction of Jat villages. Naturally they are angry. “We suffered equally but no one came to see us,” said a Jat local leader.

However, in Delhi, Dr Singh managed to annoy Muslim leaders. A delegation of Muslim leaders went to see him. He was obviously on silent mode. His face remained expressionless. So, when the leaders came out of the meeting, all of them complained: “He promised us nothing.” He could not poor chap (not in money terms) promise anything. He hangs on to power on the support of Mulayam Singh.

Dr Singh lost Jats completely, Muslims partially.

Remember the saying: Na miley Ram na miley Rahim.

Will Aam Aadmi’s Kejriwal Be Tricked By Dikshit?

Arvind Kejriwal has declared that he would oppose Sheila Dikshit and would stand against her notwithstanding from which constituency she stands. Most pollsters predict a runaway victory for Kejriwal. This would be a disaster for the Congress and it would lose its face. The party won’t let this happen easily. And to create problems for Kejriwal, it would not need its war room or dirty tricks cell. There is a precedent, which, one is sure, Sonia Gandhi would remember.

In the election in 1984-85, basically held to legitimise Rajiv Gandhi’s anointing as Prime Minister, the sympathy wave had abated. It was necessary to get a massive mandate. The late Arun Nehru was in charge of the campaign. And did he know any tricks, well a surfeit of them. He and Rajiv decided to try and defeat big guns of the opposition.

So Amitabh Bachchan was to be pitted against HN Bahuguna in Allahabad, his home. And Madhavrao Scindia was to be put up against AB Vajpayee in Gwalior. No one knew of this plan. So Nehru took Amitabh from the Lucknow Raj Bhavan at 5 am (imagine it was winter) in an ordinary-looking Ambassador with all its window glasses blackened. He filed his nomination papers five minutes before closing time.

In the case of Scindia, there was more drama. He filed his nomination papers from Guna, his traditional constituency. Then again five minutes before closing time, he filed papers in Gwalior. Neither he nor Bahuguna had time to file from any other constituency.

Dikshit could play the same trick against Kejriwal. So be alert Kejriwal!

Tailpiece

Getting caught with a couple of call girls is supposed to be enough to make people writhe in shame, but our politicians are made of different material. Recently, when Uttar Pradesh MLA Mahendra Singh aka Jheen Babu returned from, Goa, where he was arrested for Immoral Trafficking Act, he was given rousing welcome at the Lucknow airport. He was greeted with dhol players, dancers and bouquets, when he emerged from the arrival lounge, by his supporters.   It almost seemed as if he had come back from a trip to moon. In his constituency, Sitapur, in a welcome meeting, organised by his supporters, he explained to his voters, the conditions under which he was arrested in Goa. In the meeting , he said that since the Samajwadi Party had successfully stopped the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Yatra, he was arrested by the BJP government in Goa, in retaliation. His supporters and the crowd gathered for the meeting, cheered for him and shouted slogans in his support. Given his increasing popularity graph, will the Samajwadi Party take him back in the party?