The crotchety has-been is at it again

A desperate Varun Gandhi seems to have burned his fingers

When all those me-too-is-a-Gandhi histrionics failed miserably, poor Varun Gandhi seemed to have been advised by none other than his mother Maneka, the messiah of animal rights (remember: her clinic is not for treating human beings!), to deliver a sermon that will fetch him all "Hindu votes" in the communally sensitive Pilibhit, in north west Uttar Pradesh.

But the sermon didn’t blow the socks off the Hindutva camp. On the other it has posed a tough competition for all those Togadis and Modis. This poor fellow’s anti-Muslim hate speech shouldn’t surprise anyone. In fact they shouldn’t seem dim-witted either.

His dad, Sanjay Gandhi, ruled like a dictator minus any official power during the infamous Emergency. Now, is his son readying himself to enjoy the fruits of power because he believes having been born in the Gandhi dynasty gives him the hallowed duty of ruling the country?

But the poor chap was robbed off that chance at the age of three when he and his mother Maneka were mercilessly thrown out of her house by Indira Gandhi just after the death of Sanjay Gandhi in 1980. The mother queen got furious when Maneka claimed ownership of all moveable properties worth Rs 4.73 lakh.

Maneka didn't have the mettle or material to mount a palace coup against the Empress Indira Gandhi. Since Gandhi wasn’t a patented name, the Empress couldn’t file a suit claiming its ownership either. So an estranged Maneka found solace in the more creative field of animal rights. And the Gandhi tag was so tempting for the BJP the Saffron party embraced the Madame wholeheartedly.

Now, mostly from a realisation that there ain’t a sliver of hope that might redeem her moribund past, Maneka wanted her son to test his luck. But didn’t anybody tell Varun that he should have inherited all those ‘Gandhi’ traits to hoodwink the Indian asses (sorry masses)?

The Amul Baby was in fool’s paradise to think that some Hindutva-spouting will win him votes. He was desperate and has burned his fingers big time.


Photo: Nitant8899/Wikimedia Commons