It is quite rare, in this day and age, to find humour in what is ostensibly a serious piece of writing. But I had the pleasure (if I can call it that) of coming across one such write-up recently on these very pages. I am referring to
this Opinion piece titled "Amarinder's
'Padmavati' stand partly linked to Sidhu".
Frankly, I never thought that some pictures of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh playing badminton could evoke such a ridiculous reaction from anyone. Actually, I made the mistake of crediting even the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), whose member's reaction to those pictures has prompted this article, with more sensibility, despite their ludicrous antics all over the political arena.
AAP leaders' and members' indulgence in theatrics has always made them a laughing stock, not only among their opponents but also, increasingly, among the people at large. Yet, they seem to learn no lessons, and continue to come out with such foolhardy statements that are bound to expose their lack of political propriety.
Take this particular piece, in which the author, an AAP member, calls Captain Amarinder's badminton games a "significant medical miracle". And he goes on to refer to an ankle injury sustained during election campaigning, and which, unfortunately, had been troubling the Chief Minister off and on ever since.
Now, going by the author's grasp of the situation (I have no clue how much he understands or knows about medicine), the ankle should never have healed, and should have, in fact, prevented the Chief Minister from carrying on any physical activity at all, probably for the rest of his life. Quite a nonsensical conclusion, considering that it was just an ankle injury, which was bound to be cured sooner or later.
As if the "medical miracle" conclusion was not senseless enough, the author further goes on to describe the pictures as the Chief Minister "prancing around a badminton court". The choice of words by the author suggests a low level of thought process and underlines AAP's propensity to find excuses to hit below the belt, irrespective of whether such an attack is merited or not.
These descriptions are particularly condemnable considering that the said ankle injury has not prevented the Chief Minister from performing any of his official duties, including travelling around as needed. (I wonder how the author missed those pictures of Captain Amarinder which show him moving around meeting jawans and others before and after the Dera Sacha Sauda verdict, or more recently, during the Gurdaspur elections. Let me remind the writer that those pictures were also tweeted by the Chief Minister and the author can always check them out, in case he missed them earlier).
Coming now to the so-called political significance which the author has read in the badminton pictures. How he has managed to link it to various other developments, perceived or actual, is way beyond my comprehension.
Take, for instance, his desperate effort to link the badminton games of Captain Amarinder with a cabinet colleague's presence, forgetting completely that the Chief Minister had handpicked his own council of ministers, with full faith in their ability. I fail to figure out how the chief minister of a state can feel insecure because of Navjot Singh Sidhu, a man who he has himself chosen to be part of his cabinet.
And then the point about Captain Amarinder's refusal to meet the Delhi Chief Minister on the issue of stubble burning (the author clearly doesn't know the difference between crop burning and crop residue burning). Frankly, I think this entire exercise of writing such an elaborate piece on a set of pictures posted by the Punjab Chief Minister stems from this very development, as the AAP-sters could not digest the loss of face for their national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, following Captain Amarinder's refusal to meet him. They failed to grasp the futility of such a meeting, which, knowing the AAP tendency to play to the gallery, was being sought only as a publicity stunt.
As for Rahul Gandhi's elevation as Congress President, this one is really the most laughable of all in the entire piece, as the Punjab Chief Minister has actually been one of the most vocal proponents of the party Vice President's elevation. It's strange that the author, who seems to be minutely following Captain Amarinder's social media, missed out on the latter's statements about Rahul Gandhi's capabilities.
It is evident that the entire article has been drafted without taking cognizance of facts, and with the sole aim of criticism for the sake of criticism and publicity for the sake of publicity. While there is nothing wrong in seeking and striving for publicity, the way AAP leaders try to gain it by hook or by crook shows the extent of their desperation.
Let's take another example. The author's response to the Chief Minister's remarks on the film
"Padmavati" is not only uncalled for, but is also as unfounded as the rest of his write-up. It is more than evident that the AAP member has not bothered to read the Chief Minister's statement on
"Padmavati" at all. How else can one explain his totally absurd conclusion that Captain Amarinder's stand on the movie was aligned to the BJP's stance!
While AAP leaders and members were never known for high intellectual capabilities, this particular write-up, which defies all logic, has exposed the complete bankruptcy of even common sense among them. It is obvious that the AAP leadership, and its followers, need to undergo more than just political learning. They actually need to begin by developing their elementary comprehension skills. Which just might help them achieve the political miracle they seem to be perpetually in search of!
(Raveen Thukral is media advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.