Praise Narendra Modi & you become India's Most Wanted

Feature

oi-Staff

By Kishore Trivedi

She sang her first song even before Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi or many other Congress leaders were born. Not one but several generations grew up to her melodious voice and many more will do so in the years to come. She was won the highest civilian honour in India and her patriotic songs can bring a tear down anyone's eye. Yet, that does not stop enlightened Congressmen from rebuking Lata Mangeshkar because she has committed the worst crime in the rulebook of the Congress party- praise Narendra Modi

Lata Mangeshkar committed the 'crime' on the evening of November 1 when she said, "Narendrabhai is like my brother. All of us want to see him become the Prime Minister. On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, I hope our wishes come true."

This statement was enough to send Congressmen into a tizzy. The Lata Mangeshkar, whose "Aaye Mere Watan Ke Logo" brought tears to the eyes of none other than Pandit Nehru was now a punching bag for the Congress.

The effervescent Rajiv Shukla, who has no reservations in saying Sachin Tendulkar and Rekha will campaign for the Congress squirmed. India's former ambassador to Angola (a political appointee) and Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal commented on Lata Mangeshkar's stint as a Rajya Sabha MP and urged her to stay out of politics.

Bhakta Charan Das lived up to his name and continued the adverse comments on Lata Mangeshkar. Suddenly, there was a competition among Congressmen as to who will give the shrillest call for Lata Mangeshkar to stay out of politics! Such is their fear and contempt of Narendra Modi that they will not even spare a national icon.

It seems the famous people & firms have done a grave crime by backing Modi

But, if you thought they stopped there please think again. The Congress also provided free and uncharitable consultancy to a leading investment banking firm Goldman Sachs as well. Goldman Sachs's crime- a report that tipped Narendra Modi as the next PM of an NDA government, which could bring the economy back on track.

Commence Minister Anand Sharma, who wastes more time writing frivolous letters to Modi instead of working on his ministry said Goldman Sachs is "messing with Indian politics" - as there is any mess bigger than the mess his UPA has created in the last 9 years.

'Lock out hero' or the man who famously described a woman Congress MP as 'Tunch Maal' Digvijaya Singh advised Goldman that voters not corporates will determine poll results. Fair enough, Mr. Singh but if you are confident about voters then why do these observations worry you?

The other bands of 'criminals' are the same set of people you see everyday on television. Yes, TV journalists and psephologists whose opinion polls predict rising popularity of Narendra Modi and declining star of Rahul Gandhi have been called 'unscientific' and 'sold to the highest bidder' by the epitome of honesty, the Congress. When the opinion polls were predicting a majority for the Congress in Karnataka they were reflecting public opinion but when they reflect a truth the Congress does want to accept, it becomes evil.

In fact, Congress' new best friend (not the JD(U)), the Aam Admi Party called a psephologist an RSS agent just because a relative of his was associated with the Jan Sangh. His crime too was very simple- he predicts a Narendra Modi wave and talks about a rise in the BJP's prospects in Delhi after Dr Harsh Vardhan became CM candidate.

One can understand if Congress involves singers, actors, investment banks but their desperation has scaled such heights they have not sparred scientists as well. Take the case of Nambi Narayanan, who everyone agrees is one of the best scientists we have produced. When details emerged how RB Sreekumar, another 'secular hero' tortured Narayanan, Sreekumar himself and Shaktisinh Gohil preferred to go on a tirade against Nambi Narayanan, even linking Modi in the debate. At least spare the scientists! But then, strange are the ways in the Congress- the bright and honest ones are tortured and the torturers are rewarded.

The likes of Lata Mangeshkar, Goldman Sachs, Nambi Narayanan join a very exclusive list of ‘India's Most Wanted'- the dreaded list of people who have committed crimes even bigger than Dawood Ibrahim or Tiger Memon.

Stalwarts of this list include Amitabh Bachchan, who praised Modi, became Gujarat tourism's brand ambassador only to be snubbed by Maharashtra's Congress government. Other members are RK Raghavan, whose offence was that he followed the highest court of the land and conducted probe into the Gujarat riots that found no role of Narendra Modi in the violence. After years of meritorious service, what RK Raghavan got was allegations of impropriety and corruption.

The same Congress that is now rubbishing Goldman Sachs did the same for the magazines Time and The Economist and questioned the credentials of a think-tank like Brookings for expressing optimism about Narendra Modi. Mehbooba Mufti could not courageously say she praised Narendra Modi due the fear of this same Intellectual Taliban, who even made Sheila Dixit backtrack her statement saying governments get re-elected because they work.

A democracy gives the right to every citizen to express and speak for any individual or party they wish to. Just because Salman Khan campaigned for many Congress candidates does it mean people stopped seeing his movies? Javed Akhtar is one of Modi's biggest critics but every BJP supporter felt a sense of pride seeing Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. One would expect Congressmen and their supporters to do the same but then, statesmanship and magnanimity seem too big virtues to expect from the Conggress.

(The opinions expressed here are personal views of the author)