Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 11
Just when the Congress thought it was on top of the election narrative, Sam Pitroda touched its raw nerve, the 1984 Sikh carnage, forcing the leadership on the defensive.
It was for the Congress a déjà vu moment that brought back bitter memories of pre-election gaffes that undermined the party’s poll time spirits, sometimes even prospects.
Veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar’s “chaiwallah” jibe on then prime ministerial candidate of the BJP Narendra Modi had done the damage on the eve of 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Ahead of the 2017 Gujarat elections, Aiyar was back with a casteist slur on Modi and the Congress lost the election. This time, Sam Pitroda is repeating history.
Though Congress president Rahul Gandhi last night publicly rebuked his adviser Pitroda in an unprecedented show of displeasure, party leaders are edgy about how the overseas cell chief's “hua toh hua” remarks about the riots will play out in Delhi elections tomorrow and in Punjab polls in the final phase on May 19.
Privately, Congress leaders admit to the damaging potential of Pitroda’s statements in closely fought seats. Congress’ Anandpur Sahib candidate Manish Tewari today said no one in their sane mind can justify the 1984 Delhi riots. “The Delhi riots were reprehensible. No sane person can justify the riots. The irony, however, is that the man raising the issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has never ever once apologised for the Gujarat genocide,” Tewari told The Tribune.
Congress strategists were also busy factoring in the consequences of Pitroda’s statements in Delhi elections where certain segments have a sizeable Sikh population and in Sikh majority Punjab, with many hoping people would have moved on by now.
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/30eYmPu
via Today’s News Headlines
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