Political gaffes

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde was close to becoming a huge embarrassment for the ruling United Progressive Alliance government with his repeated gaffes — the most damaging being his “Hindu terror” remark at the party’s crucial “Chintan Shivir”, where he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of running terror camps. The political fallout of his remark was such that the government had to spend the next few weeks trying to defend the minister. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the home minister of late has been a bit off colour — he even refused to respond to questions on the government’s inaction on Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia’s hate speech. Unconfirmed reports also said Shinde had been pulled up by the party high command. Against this background, Afzal Guru’s hanging has come as a much-needed shot in the arm for the beleaguered home minister.