Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Gala Performance At Press Meet In Washington

By Sushil Kutty

Summarily dismissing the Aam Aadmi Party’s appeal that the opposition parties start their campaign with a show of unity on the issue of the Delhi ordinance is not good for the Opposition. More so because Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a massive hit on how democracy has fared under his watch during his US visit. And the Delhi ordinance is a direct hit on democracy; also a perfect example of “undeclared emergency”, which came in for scrutiny on yet another anniversary of the Emergency declared in 1975.

Despite the many photo-ops and the hugs, Modi’s US ‘State Visit’ saw several occasions when Modi was caught on the wrong foot; in fact, on one foot! The most notable was when he was asked a question on democracy in India and the treatment meted out to the second largest majority in India, the so-called Muslim minority, in a farce of a press conference organized by the Biden administration.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s somewhat roundabout answer to the question was a sleight of hand, so to speak, that proved that this Prime Minister of India can be a wily fox if he wants to be. For all the sense he made, he might as well not have answered the question or the journalist could have taken the day off and knitted a sweater for the approaching winter.

This was the first time in nine-plus years that Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced a phalanx of journalists in the time he has been Prime Minister of India. A vein of cowardice that was pretty much evident in his character. Maybe, he didn’t want to be caught lying! The US presser and Modi’s answer to the only question thrust on him by a journalist proved once and all that this Prime Minister can effortlessly skirt answering a tough question.

In his answer, Modi said nothing that was relevant to the question. In fact, his answer was to deny the question outright. President Joe Biden who stood at the other podium never understood Modi’s answer. The POTUS did not show any sign of having heard Modi reply. For Biden it was just another day in office. It was left to the @BJP4India to question the question asked of the Prime Minister by, of all the people, a Muslim journalist!

So, a Muslim journalist asks a question on discrimination against minorities in India, especially Muslims, and she’s biased; therefore, the last person to ask a question of Modi. Did she expose Modi and his clarion call ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’? The slogan is also Modi’s international calling card, which every head of state of every major country knows by heart; they probably mutter it in their sleep…‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.

That is how powerful Modi’s mantra is. One that the opposition parties of India cannot wait to expose; the quicker, the better. But even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi took flak for the praise he got in the United States, the opposition parties were delaying getting their acts together. Somebody with an extra funny bone christened the Patna Conclave ‘Parivar Development Alliance’!

In hindsight, Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP shouldn’t have been given a formal invitation to the conclave. This man is a loose cannon. A self-styled anarchist with an agenda of his own. Somebody who carries a torch only for himself. The luxury living quarters he has built for himself is evidence of political cannibalism. Arvind Kejriwal made fools of everyone who trusted him.

In fact, by now everybody should have known that unity, fraternity and collective sense of responsibility are alien to this modern-day politician whose mind works in peculiar ways; such that nobody knows what he would do next. Kejriwal is in a hurry to become Prime Minister and radically change India to an ‘India’ he has visualized in his head.

The confidence that drives Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is one that is based in the belief, after his sweeping victories in Delhi and Punjab, that he and his party AAP do not need any ally or alliance; that on his day, there is no one, no political party which can stop Kejriwal and AAP from the conquest of India. Arvind Kejriwal does not believe in ‘gathbandhan’. (IPA Service)

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