- Hua to hua

Middle class to be taxed for

air strikes

Congress party’s Indian Overseas chief Sam Pitroda may be the new Mani Shankar Aiyar . If it was Aiyar who scored self-goals for the Congress party in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it is Congress president Rahul Gandhi ’s top aide who has put the party on a sticky wicket by his politically incorrect statements in the ongoing general elections.By his “chaiwala” jibe at Narendra Modi , former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar gave a major talking point and which later became a turning point. , Modi was Gujarat chief minister and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.Talking to medipersons on the sidelines of the AICC meet in the national capital in January 2014, Aiyar said, "Modi can sell tea at the AICC meet but can never become prime minister. I promise you that in this 21st century, Narendra Modi can never become the prime minister of India, never, never, never. But if at all he wants to sell tea here, we can arrange some space for him.”This statement gave the BJP its tagline ‘Chai pe charcha’ in 2014. This catchphrase became immensely popular with the masses. While Modi gained sympathy and Modi wave became strengthened, the Congress earned disdain of the voters, helping the BJP win elections.While Mani Shankar Aiyar is missing in action, the one person who has given the BJP a handle to corner the Congress in the ongoing 2019 Lok Sabha elections is Sam Pitroda.Pitroda has been giving opportunities to the BJP on regular intervals. He has made at least one controversial remark every month since March.Congress president Rahul Gandhi is at pains in doing damage control exercise.On Thursday, Sam Pitroda stirred a hornet’s nest by commenting on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, which has already been made a major election plank by the BJP ahead of the last two phases of election to be held in Delhi and Punjab.Talking to mediapersons, Sam Pitroda said, “Ab kya hai 1984 ka? Baat to kariye kya kiya inhoney 5 saal mein. Uski baat kariye. 84 mein hua to hua. (Now what is this about 1984? Tell me what did they (BJP government) in the last five years. So what if 1984 (anti-Sikh riots) happened?”While all the seven seats of Delhi face polls on May 12 in the sixth phase, all 13 seats of Punjab will vote in the seventh and last phase on May 19.There is a large presence of Sikhs in these two states who may turn against the Congress. The issue may also influence non-Sikh voters.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have taken no time to use Pitroda’s remarks to the party’s advantage.Speaking in an election rally at Rohtak in Haryana on Friday, Modi alleged that thousands of people were killed during the riots engineered by the Congress, petrol and diesel were poured over Sikhs and burned and thousands of them were forced to flee their homes. “But he (Sam Pitroda) says ‘hua to hua’,” Modi said.He said the Congress did not value human lives. He also said the party had installed someone as chief minister who has been named as an accused by eye-witnesses.In a tweet, Amit Shah said, “Agony of the entire Sikh community. Suffering of all those Sikh families killed by Congress leaders in 1984. Attack on Delhi’s secular ethos. All summed up in these three words by Sam Pitroda - ‘Hua To Hua’. India will never forgive #MurdererCongress for its sins.”BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajindar Pal Singh Bagga has lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to file an FIR against Sam Pitroda for "insulting and hurting sentiments" of the Sikhs.Rahul Gandhi has announced that if the Congress comes to power, it will give Rs 72,000 per annum to the 20 per cent poorest Indian families under Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) or Minimum Income Guarantee scheme.However, Sam Pitroda has given Rahul Gandhi some anxious moments.In an interview in April, while talking about the funding for NYAY, Pitroda claimed its burden will have to be borne by the middle class who would be taxed.“Taxes may go up a little bit. But I don’t think that it is a major issue. Let’s not worry about that. Don’t be selfish. Okay. Have a big heart. How can you see poor people around you and feel that somebody is going to take 10 paisa out of you? That’s not India. If you and I (middle class) have to tighten our belt a little bit, we should. There’s nothing wrong with it. They our our cousins, they are our brothers, they are our sisters, they are our nephews.”The BJP immediately pounced upon Sam Pitroda and Rahul Gandhi over funding of NYAY. Modi and other BJP leaders have been saying that the Congress wanted to tax the middle class for electoral gains. The tax-paying middle class was the driving engine of India's economic development, he added.With the chances of middle class turning against the Congress, Rahul Gandhi has been offering explanations in almost every speech since then. He has been at pains to explain to the middle class that the funding of NYAY will not be done by taxing them. “The money for NYSY will come from the pockets of thieves such as Anil Ambani, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi,” he has said on several occasions.It remains to be seen whom the middle class will take more seriously - Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi. And the catalyst is Sam Pitroda.In the month of March, Pitroda had expressed doubts over the number of terrorists killed in the Balakot air strikes on February 26.He said, “Attacks happen all the time. Attacks happened in Mumbai and we could have reacted and sent our planes but that’s not the right approach according to me… That’s not how you deal with the world. Eight people come and do something and you don’t jump on the entire nation. I don’t believe that way.”He further said, “I would like to know a little more because I have read in foreign newspapers. What did we really attack? Did we really kill 300 people. I don’t know that and as a citizen I am entitled to know. If I ask it is my duty to ask. That doesn’t mean I am not nationalist.”Within an hour of Pitroda passing remarks, PM Modi took to Twitter to criticise Pitroda.“Opposition insults our forces time and again. I appeal to my fellow Indians. Question opposition leaders on their statements. Tell them 130 crore Indians will not forgive or forget the opposition for their antics… Loyal courtier of Congress’s royal dynasty admits what the nation already knew - Congress was unwilling to respond to forces of terror. This is a New India - we will answer terrorists in a language they understand and with interest!”Amit Shah has time and again pulled up the Congress for Pitroda’s remarks. He said Pitroda had trivialised terror attacks and particularly 26/11 by stating that if eight people came and did something, there was no need to jump on the entire nation.If Sam Pitroda helped Rahul Gandhi by arranging lectures and talks abroad, he has perhaps done more damage to him and the Congress’s prospects in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by his utterances.