 "Swamy's Twitter handle goes quiet after Modi snub")
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary Subramanian Swamy’s hyperactive Twitter handle, known for its witty repartees and sometimes vicious attacks, turned reflective and nostalgic on Tuesday.
Over the past couple of weeks, Swamy had turned on regulators and senior bureaucrats in the government for various things, ranging from being anti-national to allegedly helping members of the previous government and scamsters. He had said he had a list of 27 such people. His first attack was on Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.
Swamy, who had not even spared Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his attack, was taken on by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself on Monday.
In a television interview, Modi called Swamy’s comments “inappropriate” and heaped praises on “patriotic” Rajan. He went on to add that people who engaged in these “publicity stunts” were doing the country no good.
The usual witty and vicious repartees never came. Instead, the Rajya Sabha member chose to tweet about a paper he had co-authored with economist Paul Samuelson, which apparently was used by the European Union in its monetary policy. On Tuesday, @Swamy39 struck a philosophical note, tweeting: “The world is in general equilibrium. A small change in one parameter effects changes in all variables. So Krishna advised: Sukh Dukhe...”
But, Swamy seemed to still have his supporters’ backing.
A Swamy retweet of Raguraman B’s tweet said: “We will neither let failures mess with our heart, nor let success mess with our head #Pledge.”
Publisher and Swamy supporter Minhaz Merchant tweeted: “After Swamy's public dissing of FM, Modi could hardly not offer a rebuke. Mild nameless rebuke though as rebukes go. Rajan defence stronger.”
Merchant also played down the Modi interview as “good in parts” and mildly “Lutyenised”. New theories of how Swamy had the backing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh started being floated around.
Publicity stunts are not new to Swamy. Almost two decades ago, while contesting for the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency for his Janata Party, he had made “incredible” promises.
Local newspaper reports at that time had said he promised to bring the sea, which was some 100 km away, to the constituency and a modern port to the landlocked city. He also promised to bring South Korean carmaker Hyundai’s factory to the city. These could have created much needed employment in the area, which even now lives off past glory. The Hyundai factory finally went to Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.
Swamy’s tenure as Madurai MP was short-lived. Less than a year into his term, in March 1999, Swamy famously arranged a tea party where the so-called secular forces — including Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati and J Jayalalithaa — met to derail a 13-month Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. On Tuesday, Swamy seemed to be remembering those good old days, when he retweeted a fan tweet of The Telegraph article, titled “Swamy and Gandhis: Not always foes.”
Later in the evening, he retweeted a tweet that said that his complaint on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been forwarded to President Pranab Mukherjee.
Over the past couple of weeks, Swamy had turned on regulators and senior bureaucrats in the government for various things, ranging from being anti-national to allegedly helping members of the previous government and scamsters. He had said he had a list of 27 such people. His first attack was on Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.
Swamy, who had not even spared Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his attack, was taken on by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself on Monday.
In a television interview, Modi called Swamy’s comments “inappropriate” and heaped praises on “patriotic” Rajan. He went on to add that people who engaged in these “publicity stunts” were doing the country no good.
The usual witty and vicious repartees never came. Instead, the Rajya Sabha member chose to tweet about a paper he had co-authored with economist Paul Samuelson, which apparently was used by the European Union in its monetary policy. On Tuesday, @Swamy39 struck a philosophical note, tweeting: “The world is in general equilibrium. A small change in one parameter effects changes in all variables. So Krishna advised: Sukh Dukhe...”
But, Swamy seemed to still have his supporters’ backing.
A Swamy retweet of Raguraman B’s tweet said: “We will neither let failures mess with our heart, nor let success mess with our head #Pledge.”
Publisher and Swamy supporter Minhaz Merchant tweeted: “After Swamy's public dissing of FM, Modi could hardly not offer a rebuke. Mild nameless rebuke though as rebukes go. Rajan defence stronger.”
Merchant also played down the Modi interview as “good in parts” and mildly “Lutyenised”. New theories of how Swamy had the backing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh started being floated around.
Publicity stunts are not new to Swamy. Almost two decades ago, while contesting for the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency for his Janata Party, he had made “incredible” promises.
Local newspaper reports at that time had said he promised to bring the sea, which was some 100 km away, to the constituency and a modern port to the landlocked city. He also promised to bring South Korean carmaker Hyundai’s factory to the city. These could have created much needed employment in the area, which even now lives off past glory. The Hyundai factory finally went to Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.
Swamy’s tenure as Madurai MP was short-lived. Less than a year into his term, in March 1999, Swamy famously arranged a tea party where the so-called secular forces — including Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati and J Jayalalithaa — met to derail a 13-month Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. On Tuesday, Swamy seemed to be remembering those good old days, when he retweeted a fan tweet of The Telegraph article, titled “Swamy and Gandhis: Not always foes.”
Later in the evening, he retweeted a tweet that said that his complaint on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been forwarded to President Pranab Mukherjee.