As the 2019 elections approach, many experts have gone on the record stating that these will be the most bitterly fought elections in the history of India. Venom will be spewed with impunity, fake news will be spread ruthlessly.
But for some, the process began many months before the elections. The biggest victim of venom and fake news has been, without a doubt, Union Minister of textiles Smriti Irani. Ever since she was fielded by the BJP in 2014 to take on Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, she has been attacked viciously. A systematic smear campaign has been run against her by the Congress Party and its ecosystem. The fact of the matter is that the Gandhi family and its ecosystem were given the scare of their lifetimes with the positive way in which many responded to her candidature in the Nehru family fiefdom. Smriti has been unrelenting, and the attacks on her clearly show that the family and its cronies remain terribly insecure about being kicked out of their fortress.
The latest attack on the minister came in the form of a meme, which was circulated on social media by people belonging to the Congress Party. A bunch of Twitter users swearing by the party and openly proclaiming to be a part of the Congress have circulated a meme based on a false statement. According to the meme, the union minister has allegedly made a statement claiming that she will expose every Congressman threadbare. However, the words they have used to portray this have been given a perverted undertone, by making it sound as if she meant that she will strip them naked. The Congress handles have added a line after this statement, claiming that after hearing this, there has been a spike in the number of people who want to join the party.
एक एक काँग्रेसी को नंगा करूँगी – @smritiirani
क्या यह एक #भारतीय नारी के बोल हो सकते है?
नारी का सबसे बड़ा गहना #लज्जा और #शर्म होती है ।
स्मृति ईरानी जी अपनी इस टिप्पणी पर माफी मांगे । अगर मांग गलत है तो… @RahulGandhi@SachinPilot @avinashpandeinc @BJP4India @sambitswaraj pic.twitter.com/dZwWgozOAu— Anupam Sharma Girudi Official🇮🇳 गांधी परिवार (@anupamsharma654) September 4, 2018
जिस दिन से @smritiirani @RahulGandhi का बाथरूम झांक कर आई है सारे कांग्रेस्सियो को नंगा करने पर तुली हुई है। पता नही क्या दुश्मनी निभा रही है।
— Adv. Lekhraj Kashyap. (@AdvoKashyap) September 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/lankapati0ravan/status/1037031381061324801?s=21
https://twitter.com/manish_sharma84/status/1036995735542288384?s=21
https://twitter.com/anchan_shaila/status/1036983905763479552?s=21
मॉडलिंग से भाजपा में आई केन्द्रीय मंत्री स्मृति ईरानी ने कहा कि "एक एक काँग्रेसी को नंगा करूँगी" ये खबर सुनते ही अब सभी को "काँग्रेसी मेंबरसिप लेने ही होड़ सी मच" गई है…!
क्या आप लोग भी काँग्रेस को ज्वाईन करेंगे…!!
तो RT करे # pic.twitter.com/PkywGpnY6e— Kamaludin ansari (@kamaluddinINC) September 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/i_support_inc/status/1036966787298914305?s=21
— Dilip Saraf (@DilipSaraf16) September 4, 2018
एक एक कांग्रेसी को नंगा करूंगी:- @smritiirani
राहुल गांधी हनीमून यात्रा पर गए हैं:- @sambitswaraj
राहुल गांधी कीड़े मकोड़े है:- @AshwiniKChoubey
इतने अच्छे संस्कार "अटल जी" से सीखे हैं या "दीनदयाल जी" से!!@INCIndia @RahulGandhi @priyankac19 @Pawankhera @RTforINC @RajBabbarMP— Deepak Pandit (@DeepakPanditBSR) September 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/alisohrab007/status/1036631001869545473?s=21
To begin with, the entire meme is based on fake news. Leave alone the perverted connotation that the Congress handles have cast, the words themselves were never spoken by the union minister. The statement on the basis of which this meme was created has itself been manufactured out of thin air. Such lewd and fake statements have been manufactured and attributed to her by people associated with the Congress Party in the past as well.
स्मृति ईरानी ने बड़ा चौकाने वाला बयान दिया है,उन्होंने कहा कि राहुल गांधी 15 मिनट बाथरूम में नहीं टिक सकते मोदी जी के सामने कैसे टिकेंगे @smritiirani जी आपके पास दूसरों के बाथरूम की खबर है
लगता है साहेब की संगत का असर है #YeddyScams @RahulGandhi @INCIndia @ajaymaken @INCDelhi pic.twitter.com/eyyCCUMYcD— RAJESH KHANNA INC (@inckhannarajesh) April 22, 2018
It is also interesting to note that the meme appeared in quick succession on several handles linked to the Congress Party at the same time. Clearly, it was a concerted attack by the IT cell or a group of people closely associated with the party, and not a rumor which gained steam gradually. A falsehood was manufactured and systematically spread in a coordinated fashion.
The timing of this fake statement and meme is also interesting to note. It came just a day after sections of the mainstream media carried a story about how Union Minister Smriti Irani had worked towards developing a state-of-the-art Digital Village in Amethi, once again sparking off speculations about the BJP now being in a position to trounce the Congress Party in this constituency. One must keep in mind that smear campaigns against Smriti Irani have a pattern. Whenever she is in the news for anything related to the challenge the BJP now poses to Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, she is attacked by the family and its cabal. In the beginning of June for instance, when she told the media that the BJP will emerge victorious in Amethi irrespective of who it is that takes on Rahul Gandhi, a prominent Congress Party leader from Gujarat had gone on to falsely claim that Smriti had misused her MPLAD funds. Clearly, the sense of entitlement when it comes to Amethi, and the need to divert attention from ground realities whenever their prospects in Amethi look uncertain, are palpable.
Now coming to the content of the false statement and the meme, the Congress Party must come out publicly and clarify if this is its official stand or not. Those who have circulated the meme in question openly proclaim to be part of the Congress Party. One must keep in mind that there exists a pattern here as well. Lewd jokes and remarks about Smriti Irani has been a forte of the Congress Party. From Sanjay Nirupam to Tehseen Poonawallah to former Assam minister Nolamoni Deka, Congress leaders have a habit of speaking lewdly about the Union Minister. Not only is this a reflection of the party’s culture and mentality, but it is quite clear that several things about Smriti frustrate them deeply. Apart from being an imminent political threat to the prince, she is also someone who made it big on her own, purely on the basis of merit and hard-work. These factors are antithetical to Congress Party’s culture.
The good news though is that the country at large is dumping the Congress Party culture steadily. Prime Minister Modi, Smriti Irani and several others just being where they are and doing what they do, exposes this culture and gets rid of it bit by bit every day.
