Gujarat polls: The news lows in politics

The Gujarat elections have seen leaders making remarks that show the polity in poor light

GN Bureau | December 9, 2017


#Gujarat   #politics   #elections   #Narendra Modi   #BJP  

From ‘neech’ to ‘dadhi-topi’, the run-up to Gujarat assembly elections have seen politicians stooping to a new low to score brownie points over their adversaries.

 
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s “neech” remark triggered a political storm just ahead of the two-phased balloting in Gujarat. Aiyar was later placed under suspension by the Congress.
 
Prime minister Narendra Modi retorted on Saturday: “They have not called me 'Neech' for the first time yesterday. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and her family members have used it too. Why am I 'Neech' - because I was born poor, because I am of a lower caste, because I am a Gujarati? Is that why they hate me.”
 
Then there is the case of Shailesh Mehta ‘Sotta’, who is the BJP candidate for Gujarat’s Dabhoi assembly seat in Gujarat. He said “if someone with dadhi-topi is among the people here, forgive me but their number here has to reduce” because “there should be no population of Dubai” in Dabhoi.
 
He was served notice for violating the model code of conduct.
 
The attacks and counter-attacks were no holds barred.
 
Congress leader Anand Sharma said BJP leaders were losing their “mental balance” and “they should be sent to psychologists”. He also accused Modi of speaking “lies” and “twisting the history”, reported Indian Express.
 
In the past too, the gloves have been off.
 
Digvijay Singh of the Congress had compared Modi to the “10 headed” person, alluding to Ravana. Another time, Singh had tweeted a meme that had abusive language.

Comments

 

Other News

“I pray to God that such an incident never happens in future”

Life is slowly limping back to normalcy in Bahanaga, a block headquarters town in Odisha’s Balasore district that witnessed one of the deadliest rail disasters of the century. Train operations have resumed as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has begun the probe into the accident that claimed

Gandhi’s Triumph over the Fear of Death

The Essential U. R. Ananthamurthy Edited by N. Manu Chakravarthy and Chandan Gowda Aleph Books, Rs 899, 312 pages

Bird walks for youngsters to be held across India

Early Bird and the Rainmatter Foundation have announced five bird walks, led by naturalists, across India on June 10. The walks, to be held in Agartala, Dehradun, Mysore, Panjim, and Tirupati early in the morning, are part of the Rainmatter Foundation’s Walking Lightly campaign, being observed throug

India celebrates Environment Day with thrust on Mission LiFE

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India organized the World Environment Day on Monday with a thrust on Mission LiFE. The concept of LiFE, i.e., Lifestyle for Environment was introduced by prime minister Narendra Modi at the World Leaders` Summit in Glasgow at COP26, when

Green banking: an emerging way forward

Green Banking is an initiative taken by the banks to promote environment-friendly practices and reduce carbon footprint of their activities. Green financing (a part of ‘Green Banking’) is a broad term that can refer to a financial investment flowing into sustainable development projects and ini

GST revenue in May clocks 12% y-o-y growth

The gross Good & Services Tax (GST) revenue collected in the month of May, 2023 is ₹1,57,090 crore of which CGST is ₹28,411 crore, SGST is ₹35,828 crore, IGST is ₹81,363 crore (including ₹41,772 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is ₹11,489 crore (including ₹1,057 crore collecte

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter