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<b>Bharat Bhushan:</b> Muting the bully pulpit

Priyanka Gandhi's stance against Modi has exposed the low standards of public discourse he has chosen to adopt

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Bharat Bhushan
Last Updated : May 05 2014 | 10:08 PM IST
Any school counsellor will tell you that remaining silent only emboldens a bully; the victim has to stand up for the bullying to stop. Is it possible that Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has finally met his comeuppance at the hands of Priyanka Gandhi?

For someone who aspires to become the prime minister of India, Modi's tongue is far too caustic. Perhaps his is a classic case of what can happen to loners, who tread a path of their own calling, away from the socialisation of their families. They may have sacrificed the comforts of home for a greater cause, but they lack proper socialisation of what constitutes acceptable discourse by role models within the family - mother, aunts, sisters, brothers and cousins. Modi, the youngster, left home to give his life to the "national" cause epitomised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, but in the process, he did not learn to communicate without relying on denigration and demeaning others to be effective. This makes him less statesmanlike, less prime ministerial and more like a bully.

Modi's election campaign, especially his attempt to publicly humiliate the Gandhi family, has crossed a critical line in the use of language that politicians seldom did in the past. Lowbrow satire is a form of political critique. His references to Sonia Gandhi as "Matashri", to Rahul Gandhi as a "namuna" (an odd specimen) or a "shehzada" (princeling) is pure derision, competing with the cheapest of television's comedy shows. Robert Vadra was referred to as "jijaji" (brother-in-law) to rhyme with 2G (the telecom scam). Much humour is sought to be generated around the abbreviation RSVP - Rahul, Sonia, Vadra and Priyanka - and the ABCD of corruption as (A - Adarsh scam, B - Bofors scam, and C - coal scam). The United Progressive Alliance government was referred to as "Ma-Bete ki sarkar" (mother and son's government). It is not surprising that the person whose public discourse comes closest to Modi is another social misfit, the yoga guru, Swami Ramdev.

The Gandhi family is not the only one for whom derogatory language was used by Modi. In a rally in Jammu, he claimed that three AKs had emerged as a unique strength for Pakistan - AK-47 (an assault rifle favoured by terrorists), A K Antony (our defence minister), and AK-49 (Arvind Kejriwal, who ran a 49-day government in Delhi). He referred to the Congress, the Samajwadi party and the Bahujan Samaj party as WWF contestants who only shadow-box. And he suggested that the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, was accepting bribes in the guise of selling her paintings. In these and other examples, Modi's political language shows no respect for the social rules of public discourse.

He addresses the masses in a mode which assumes a shared pathological hatred of the privileged class - "Don't make me PM, make me chowkidar - watchman," and emphasises his image as a self-made man who was once a tea-vendor. It is their applause that he seeks through his low satire. His derogatory language against more privileged others is also supposed to strike a sympathetic chord. Privilege, of course, is epitomised by the Gandhis and Congress, the mere mention of whom makes him lose all behavioural control and brings forth his threatening best.

The other target of his and supposedly his audience's ire is the religious minorities. Images of intimidation (Gujarat riots of 2002 under his chief ministerial watch) and violence (the social fallout of communal riots in Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar) cannot be disowned from his persona, no matter how persistently he is asked to do so by television anchors. They were, in fact, reinforced in his public speech in Assam where he warned "Bangladeshis" to have their bags packed by May 17 - the day after election results are declared.

What has the reluctant participant in politics, young Priyanka Gandhi done? She has taken on each of his vitriolic outbursts and shown them to be short of publicly desirable conduct. She told him that he was being childish and should conduct himself with dignity if he wants to become the prime minister. "Why indulge in these juvenile attacks? PM pad ki garima ko toh pehchaaniye" (at least understand the dignity of the office you aspire to)," she said in her ultimate put-down.

Nothing could have communicated Modi's callousness and lack of empathy for women than a smiling Priyanka mimicking a telephone call with her hand to her ear saying, "If you talk of women's empowerment, then stop tapping our phones and listening to us in closed rooms. There is one leader who wrongs women. Be wary of him."

To Modi's jibe about RSVP and ABCD, the Gandhi daughter's riposte was, "You are not teaching in a school, you are addressing the nation, tell them what you will do. Don't teach them the English alphabet like RSVP, ABCD... You are not addressing a primary school. It is the public of this country, which is intelligent."

Of course, she has also countered his political promises such as the so-called Gujarat model. She said: "The people understand your Gujarat model, in which you have given away thousands of acres of land at throwaway prices to your friends... Tell us what is the condition of farmers in your model... What are the daily wages of workers?... What have you done for women?" But it is her defence of her family that is significant in the context of Modi's abusive rhetoric.

It should not be underplayed, as some have tried to do, as merely the expected reaction of a woman defending her husband and family. She has taken on a political bully in public and pointed out where he has fallen short in his public discourse. She has shaken his composure sufficiently - forcing him to say that she was like a daughter to him. Once a bully is taken down in public he loses his swagger.

The writer is a journalist based in Delhi

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Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper

First Published: May 05 2014 | 9:46 PM IST

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