Priyanka adds spice to one-sided contest

Finally, in the last lap of the political race where the BJP’s Narendra Modi was running away with the prize for oratory and connect with the masses, the contest now has a spark of life with a few doses of sarcasm and humour being injected by the Gandhi parivar’sbeti Priyanka.

Looking more and more like grandma Indira, but without her extreme aggression and arrogance, Priyanka has added spice to the electoral discourse by her baukhlaye hue chuhey (panic-stricken, confused rats) remarks and Modi’s supposedly chappan inch ka seena (56 inch chest)! But when Priyanka entered the scene, confining herself, as in the last few elections, to her family’s pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareilly, she didn’t even cause a ripple. It was too little, too late.

The contest had almost been declared over; Modi was getting a massive response. The extent and intensity of the anger and disdain towards the Congress-led UPA was so great that all surveys showed a Congress drubbing. Senior Congress leaders wore long faces, their body language conceded defeat, party chief Sonia Gandhi continued to drone away in laboured speeches. As for heir apparent Rahul Gandhi, his earnestness and concerns for a pluralist India notwithstanding, his philosophical takes on poverty, the system, and so on, were a complete washout.

The time for treatise was over; the electorate needed a real account of what the UPA had achieved over 10 years. And if it failed, what the reason was. Unfortunately for Rahul, the grooming time was long past; his seat had been kept warm by a Prime Minister who started out well but became dysfunctional along the way.

But enter Priyanka, even in limited appearances confined to Amethi and Rae Bareilly, and there is a sudden jaan (life) in the Congress campaign.

Proving, once again, that she has inherited Indira’s mystique, magic and charisma, Priyanka is breezing through election meetings here. Against Modi’s huge rallies and thunderous speeches, she flits through small groups, offers juicy sound-bytes, flashes her dimpled smiles and glides out of the venue, sometimes even refusing to go on stage.

There is neither screaming and waving of arms nor raising of fingers. Small wonder, then, that Rahul’s challenger from the Aam Aadmi Party in Amethi, Kumar Vishwas, was appalled that she did not respond dramatically to the loony character who told her: “Didi, I am going to kill him (Vishwas)” and threatened to file an FIR against her for plotting to murder him! Can it get more comical then that?

The point is that Priyanka is a natural when it comes to electioneering. She speaks Hindi effortlessly, smiles a lot and hugs babies and old women spontaneously, without making you think she’ll head for a shower at the first opportunity. Her handloom sarees in vibrant colours with contrasting borders remind you of Indira.

Make no mistake; Sonia too displays an impeccable sense in her choice of sarees and salwar-suits. But there is an easy charm and careless grace in the way Priyanka carries herself in a saree, and reaches out to people, hugging them, shaking hands.

Try and watch the video clip of Priyanka gheraoed by AAP volunteers in Amethi who complain to her about the bad state of the roads. Pulling out their cell phones, a couple of angry men ask her to look at the potholes frozen on the screen. She looks, listens, nods, smiles, and then throws them off completely by extending her hand and asking with a dimpled smile: “ Humse haath bhi nahi milayenge aap ? (Won’t you shake my hand?) In two minutes, the animosity is gone, there is a scramble to shake her hand and she drives away amidst unbelievable chants of “Priyanka Gandhi zindabad”! I caught the footage on television and even glimpsed a couple of volunteers flinging their party caps as she leaves the venue!

But neither the BJP nor Modi find all of this charming. Because Priyanka’s ample smiles and oodles of charm come packed with punches against Modi. First, she asked people to vote for leaders who respect women and not those who tap their phones.

After this allusion to ‘snoopgate’, she next moved on to taunt Modi that India needs not a “ chhappan inch ka seena but a dariya jaisa dil ” (not a big chest but a big heart).

Reminds you of the tussle between Modi and Priyanka in the 2009 elections. But spoiling Priyanka’s party is a huge liability in the form of her husband Robert Vadra, perhaps the biggest reason keeping her away from contesting elections herself.

The moment she defended the indefensible — Vadra’s questionable land deals — the fairy tale collapsed. And she gave the BJP a window of opportunity to hit at her harder.

So, on Sunday, a few hours after Priyanka had made a derogatory reference to the “ chhappan inch ka seena ”, an enraged BJP leadership went into a huddle, and emerged with, of all the things, a pathetically produced video that could be used by visual media centres to show how not to make a short film.

If the visuals are uninspiring, the commentary is downright atrocious. In an irritating tone, the female voice taunts “ damaadshri ” for “ sasuma ka naam japna, paraya land apna ”.

This hurried creation by a party which has unveiled an enviable election campaign, slogans and jingles, only proves how seriously BJP is taking the challenge from Priyanka. Sure of victory, but with three phases of polling still left, the BJP wants to take no chances on Priyanka’s limited exposure in the two constituencies ending up with nationwide appeal as both the print and visual media are lapping up her style of canvassing and giving it extensive publicity.

Priyanka’s response to the release of the Vadra video and booklet was a calm, yet spunky: “I expected this onslaught… dauhlaye huye chuey chuhey ki tarah (BJP) daud rahey hei . But they are not going to shut me up. Mein chup nahi rahungi .”

And the difficult Hindi words flowed effortlessly and emphatically. “ Mei kisise darti nahi hu aur unki vinashak, nakaratmak aur sharmanak rajniti ke khilaf bolti rahungi. (I’m not afraid of anybody and will continue to criticise their destructive, negative, futile and shameful politics.”

She signed off with: “ Aur boley, mei intezaar karungi ”.

And so will we… as this election is getting too boringly one-sided!