By Sushil Kutty
Sharing a first name with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is just one reason why UBT Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi cannot be anything but “sisterly” to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi unlike Union Minister for Minority Affairs Smriti Irani who finds in Rahul Gandhi’s every gesture an invitation – to a fight! Just like the ‘flying kiss’ Rahul Gandhi allegedly hurled in the direction of BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, perched in the Lok Sabha’s Visitor’s Gallery, got a bird’s eye-view and she swears it was an “affectionate gesture”. But the heavyweight politician that she is, Smriti Irani couldn’t stomach Rahul Gandhi’s flying kiss. Irani termed it ‘misogynist’ and an insult to all the women MPs who were in the trajectory of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Flying Kiss’.
For the record, Rahul Gandhi wasn’t even looking at or towards Smriti Irani to specifically or individually target Irani. Why was the Union Minister for Women and Child Development taking it personally? Chances are Rahul Gandhi hardly ever thinks of any particular MP, male or female, when in the House.
Second question: Does the erstwhile Amethi MP hold a grudge against the current Amethi MP for his Amethi defeat at her hands? Let this be known, it’s Irani who still cannot forget Rahul Gandhi’s Amethi loss. Smriti Irani hasn’t yet gotten over the heady feeling of defeating the Gandhi scion. It is the highpoint of her life so far. For Irani, there cannot be another bigger, greater political victory.
So, anything and everything about Rahul Gandhi has a real or imaginary Smriti Irani link, Rahul Gandhi’s flying kiss included. The question will be asked, “Why does the BJP/Modi Government field Smriti Irani to answer every Rahul Gandhi provocation, complaint or an issue on which Rahul Gandhi had a view?” It’s like Smriti Irani is the BJP’s ‘Rahul Expert’ and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah cannot think of taking on Rahul Gandhi without including Smriti Irani in the loop and with “Irani inputs” on the 53-year-old.
In fact, there is no clear proof of Rahul Gandhi blowing a flying kiss, much less one in the direction of the treasury benches, Smriti Irani in particular. The Opposition ‘INDIA’ should demand a probe by an independent agency. The allegations of misogyny is unbridled defamation of Rahul Gandhi and is aimed at hurting the electoral prospects of the ‘INDIA’ alliance.
What happened was that something that looked suspiciously like an unidentified flying object, which was blown out of proportion, flew past and BJP MPs led by Smriti Irani who has only a hate-hate relationship with the erstwhile Amethi MP, lost it! The BJP MPs had been left smarting by Rahul Gandhi’s all-out onslaught on the Modi Government’s directionless Manipur policy.
Fact is, blowing a flying kiss isn’t a crime. People are recipients of one or the other flying kiss all the time. For Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rahul Gandhi’s flying kiss was out of his ‘Mohabbat ki Dukaan’. “Did he say it was meant for women? It was a genuine gesture…they (BJP) are used to hate. Therefore, (they) can’t accept love.”
Some 20-odd BJP women MPs have lodged complaints against Rahul Gandhi. Chaturvedi considers this odd behaviour as this was a new India of the young generation who did not have any problems with kissing. Only those with a narrow mindset have issues with love and affection. Carry on like this and Modi wouldn’t be talking of India’s demographic dividend advantage anymore.
So, did Rahul Gandhi send a flying kiss in the direction of the BJP MPs? One story says that on his way out after a blowout speech targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and “Adani”, Rahul Gandhi dropped a couple of files and as he bent to pick them up, some BJP MPs laughed and Rahul Gandhi sent a flying kiss crashing into them.
And Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani couldn’t take this sort of behaviour. She labelled Rahul misogynistic and the flying kiss, never witnessed before in the Lok Sabha, “obscene”. As many as 21 women BJP MPs found a flying kiss obscene. British MPs and US Congressmen and US Senators would laugh at Modi and Smriti, but these British and US politicians wouldn’t know that public displays of affection (PDA) including flying kisses are taboo in most parts of India and flying kisses will fly over our desi MPs’ heads, Indians who wouldn’t know a flying kiss from a flying object if one came at them smack on their lips! (IPA Service)
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