In a bid to score political brownie points, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has crossed all limits of shamelessness and political bitterness. At a time when former Prime Minister Vajpayee who is loved by one and all across the country has been admitted to AIIMS for kidney infection, Rahul Gandhi tried scoring political points out of his illness. While the entire country is wishing for his well being, Rahul Gandhi can’t think above petty politics.
In a shameless statement, Gandhi boasted about being the first person to visit Vajpayee after the latter was admitted to the hospital on complaints of kidney infection. He tried to put across the point that even though the Congress had fought against the Vajpayee government, they were the first ones to pay a visit when he got ill. He further claimed that the ideology of the Congress is to respect its opponents. This naive yet malicious statement by Rahul Gandhi is condemnable beyond the strongest of words. It is not only condemnable but also shameful to make such distasteful remarks and politicise the health issues of one of the most cherished prime ministers of the country till date.
The BJP has come hitting out at Rahul Gandhi for making this shameful statement. It has stated that Rahul Gandhi is practising the “lowest form of politics” and that it was bizarre to see the president of the oldest political party stoop to such low.
With this, Rahul Gandhi has proved that Congress lacks morality to the core. In its lust for power, Congress can politicise anything and everything. There has been an unwritten code in Indian politics of not making political statements about the health and such other personal and sensitive matters of a leader of another party. But it seems that Rahul Gandhi has no respect for Indian political and social norms. All he cares about is garnering votes and scoring political points.
Rahul claimed that by visiting Vajpayee in AIIMS before Prime Minister Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, he created a precedent in inter-party relationships and respect for adversaries. However, he forgot that paying a visit to the ailing former prime minister is not a race. Respect comes from within the heart but if it was entirely a matter of reaching before others in order to make news headlines, then it was nothing but shameful politicisation of Vajpayee’s health. If Rahul Gandhi thinks that he was in a race, it only exposes his narrow mentality and is bound to backfire badly instead of improving Congress’ popularity.
Even as Rahul Gandhi was claiming political credit for visiting Vajpayee before the BJP leadership, some shocking details have emerged regarding his desperate visit. It appears that the AIIMS doctors did not want anyone to visit Vajpayee till about 7: 30 in the evening due to ongoing tests, etc. However, Rahul Gandhi was desperate to score political points and therefore went to pay an early visit anyway. While others, including Prime Minister Modi and BJP national President Amit Shah, followed rules and the doctors’ advice not to visit the former prime minister, Rahul Gandhi preferred politics over an ailing Vajpayee.
https://twitter.com/Shehzad_Ind/status/1006528812123750400
Rahul Gandhi has taken political indecency and desperation to a new level even by Congress’ dubious standards. This single statement proclaiming victory over Modi and Amit Shah over Vajpayee’s ill health reeks of political opportunism. The Congress is already in tatters and this is going to take it further down.