Six cities in Gujarat – Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar are going for civic body elections on February 21. The Congress party, in a weird manifesto released for the Vadodara Municipal Corporation polls, has promised to set up “dating destinations with coffee shops” across the city, so that “youth, students, corporates” can “unwind and relax”. This promise seemingly comes considering the fact that in large joint families of Gujarat, finding private space might not be possible for many. The Grand Old Party has therefore promised to set up cafes, party halls and other ground facilities for youth and women to hold gatherings and “kitty parties”.
One might have thought that Congress, after facing successive poll routs, would come up with a presentable manifesto for the Gujarat civic polls. However, here too, the party has decided to make a joke out of itself. Out of all that which municipal corporations can work for, a Congress-controlled civic body, we are now to believe, will work for couples and youths and make available private spaces for them. Is this what civic bodies are supposed to do?
Vadodara Congress President Prashant Patel who released the manifesto, said, “The idea behind the promise is to give the weaker section of the society the space to unwind and relax. Those who can afford to go to cafes in the city have their options but what about those youth or persons from the underprivileged section?”
If the Congress’ manifesto wasn’t already sufficiently laughable; the ruling BJP has come up with an even more ludicrous counter to the Grand Old Party’s “dating destination” promise. Saying that Congress has never associated itself with ‘Indian values’ and that the party’s promise of ‘dating destinations’ will promote ‘Love Jihad’, Vadodara BJP President Vijay Shah remarked that dating is related to “physical attraction and there is no emotional attraction in dating” and added that the Congress’ manifesto will mislead the youth.
BJP’s General Secretary of Vadodara unit, Sunil Solanki, meanwhile asked, “Is dating a part of our culture? The Congress has no respect for the values of the Indian society.”
How cafes and coffee shops would end up promoting love jihad is not known, and neither has Gujarat BJP put in the effort to explain the same. Going by their statements, the Vadodara unit of the party believes that dating is a phenomenon seen only between individuals of two different religious backgrounds. If that is not hilarious, we don’t know what is.
The Congress, perhaps owing to the fact that it has been out of power for so long, has forgotten what those in power need to do – which is why it is planning to come up with “dating destinations” for Vadodara’s youth. The BJP, meanwhile, needs to stop playing the “Indian culture” card at the drop of a hat to be taken seriously by the country’s youth.
