The comments made by Congress leaders, who are supposed to be leading the party and nation, are quite unbecoming for people of their stature. Any political party contesting the elections to form a stable government in this country, which is the biggest democracy in the world, must be very cautious while commenting and criticising its opponents.The credentials of a candidate are not based on his family or personal affairs; the question is not about the family, but a candidate’s ability to lead and govern which is of prime importance. If we are led to count the personal issues of a political figure, or any person for that matter, there would be no end to it. One’s personal or marital life can’t be the reason to generalise about a leader’s approach towards the people.
Almost every survey from every organisation is predicting that Mr Modi will become the Prime Minister. None of these predictions are based on his personal life or marital life. The surveys are in his favour because of the development activities undertaken by Mr Modi and the results he has achieved. These results have led him to become the Chief Minister of Gujarat three times consecutively. It is pertinent to note that an organisation based in the US conducted a survey and found that most Indians want Mr Modi as the PM. And being a foreign agency, it even went on to say that he can effectively face the threat of external aggression and protect the sovereignty of the country.
So far, it has never happened for any PM or prospective candidate. His developmental activities have even been acknowledged by opponents like late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. Forgetting all this, if the Congress wants to counter Mr Modi by going into his personal life, then it will in fact help him rather than hurt his chances.Because comments made on the basis of wrong assertions will make the common man sympathise with him. She (Mr Modi’s estranged wife) was interviewed by several newspapers and she herself has stated that she wishes for Mr Modi to become the Prime Minister and has not said anything against him.
I fail to understand how it is the Congress’ business to poke its nose into the personal affairs of a husband and wife. How can the Congress take sides and make comments? Neither party is aggrieved in this issue; it is only the Congress that seems to be aggrieved. Interestingly, no woman in the Congress has made any such comment that Mr Modi is against women or about his relationship with his wife. It is only the men who have made such remarks pretending to be hurt. Like former Congress leader Lagadapati Rajagopal who used a pepper spray, which is actually a defensive weapon for women.
No woman in Gujarat has raised any issue about Mr Modi not being supportive of women and he has been Gujarat’s longest-serving Chief Minister. Nobody, including Mr Digvijay Singh, had said anything like this when Mr Modi was running for Chief Minister of Gujarat for the third time. Leaders of the Congress are just hurling stones at Mr Modi without knowing facts. I feel the Congress should apologise to Mr Modi and to the woman who has been used as a “character” in their filthy stories. The helplessness of the Congress is visible in this personal attack on Mr Modi.
For any wrongdoing, cognizance is taken by the court of law, which pronounces justice. All cases against Mr Modi in the Gujarat riots have been struck down by the courts and he has been exonerated of all offences and the only feeble allegations that the Congress can make are about his personal life. Mr Modi doesn’t need to acknowledge or apologise for mistakes he has not made. The Congress is running away from the field.
Lack of family ties lead to bad politics
R A Suneetha
Narendra Modi’s image as a politician without the usual family strings is being harnessed towards constructing a particular persona as one without any vested personal interest in politics. Mr Modi’s disavowal of his wife in public life is a part of building this persona through which one is supposed to believe that he will dedicate his entire life towards the right kind of politics.
However, his past actions in the largescale killing of Gujarat’s Muslim citizens who he was supposed to protect and refusal to take responsibility later show that lack of personal strings and family ties do not lead to the right kind of politics.
Politics is all about responsibility and care, in everyday life and in exceptional situations. In his case, abdication of care and responsibility in personal and political life seem to be connected. As a result what we have is a persona interested in political power for its own sake, which is perhaps more dangerous than the family-tied politician personas that we regularly encounter.
