This is a work of fiction. Although it may appear closer to reality than fiction.
The Karnataka unit of the BJP is mighty upset with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. A group of top BJP loyalists in Bengaluru has prepared a draft letter against her and the missive is being given final touches before it is sent to the party High Command.
The draft letter reads:
Respected J.P.Nadda saheb,
We are confident that your attention has been drawn to what Srimati Nirmala Sitharaman had said recently at a media event in New Delhi. Many newspapers have reported her openly saying that she declined the party’s offer to field her from a Lok Sabha constituency, either from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu because “I do not have the kind of money” to contest.
This, in our collective opinion, is a cheap shot, aimed at earning a few brownie points with the Khan Market crowd. We thought that after ten years of Amrit Kaal, this obsession to earn the approval of Lutyens Delhi would have dissipated by now.
In fact, her “no money” argument is a slap on the face of our party. Every turn-coat who is joining our party, every karyakarta who wants to contest on the lotus symbol, every non-BLP MLA, knows that our party has over-flowing coffers and our leadership generously parts with huge sums of money – be it for the purpose of financing elections, for buying MLAs to bring down an opposition government or for luring important leaders from other parties.
So, we fail to understand why Sitharaman should advertise her “poverty.” Is she telling the world that every BJP candidate spends way above the prescribed limit of Rs. 95 lakhs? Is she conceding that the economy did not do all that well these five years and that she could not double her own income/ assets—a feat even the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister has managed to accomplish [ as per his election nomination declaration.]
We in the Karnataka BJP take great pride in never suffering from a dearth of funds and resources. We can shout our “aatamnirbharta” from our house-top, now that we have the mining baron, Janardhan Reddy back with us.
We in Karnataka have a bone to pick with Sitharaman. After all, it is our MLAs who send her to the Rajya Sabhas and we are certainly not amused at her flaunting her poverty as a badge of moral nobility. This is unwarranted and unacceptable one-upwomanship. We dare say that only the Hon’ble Prime Minister and our Supreme Leader is entitled to claim total purity and an uncontaminated political and moral persona.
Respected Naddaji,
Please permit us to express our outrage over the second part of Sitharaman’s formulation. She reportedly expressed her reservation [about getting her feet dirty in the electoral arena] because she did not quite fit “this community” or “that religion.”
This is preposterous. This is an insult to the mighty BJP machine. And, a supreme denigration of our Supreme Leader. After all, everyone knows – in the NDA column or in the Opposition crowd – that all it takes for a constituency to vote for the BJP is for the greatest orator of all times, Shri Narendra Modi ji to hold an election rally in support of this or that candidate.
We all know and the mainstream media underlines this fact week after week, day after day, that voters in Naya Bharat are no longer enamoured by caste or religion or any other identity; instead, the vast majority rewards “vikas.” Thanks to Prime Minister Modi’s visionary leadership. Like a true leader, he has changed the way the people of Bharat think and act.
So, in this context, it is rather thick for Nirmala ji to suggest that she would be handicapped in any way. It may sound a bit harsh but we think she is singing an elitist thought. [Did she not study at JNU?].
She has the gumption to think that the people will vote for her on her presumed administrative acumen. We know that whether she occupied an office in South Bloc or North Bloc, her ministry was being micro-managed from the PMO. And, as a generous leader, the Prime Minister was letting her collect accolades for steering two key ministries.
Respected Adhyakash ji,
Because we have sent her to the Rajya Sabha, we have a reason and a right to feel sore about Nirmala ji’s pretensions. She has demoralized the party workers by refusing to contest, just at a time when the Hon’ble Prime Minister is working very hard to make the BJP establish itself as a political force of some substance in the South. Just compare her snootiness with Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s gamely acceptance of the party’s request, even when he knows he has no chance whatsoever against Shashi Tharoor. In one single stroke, Sitharaman has advertised the party’s vulnerabilities in the south.
It pains us to pen this against someone who has been the Prime Minister’s trusted colleague these past ten years but we believe that she has not reciprocated the trust Modiji reposed in her. But, as the Prime Minister has taught us, no one is bigger than the party. Nirmala ji has betrayed us all when the chips seem to be down. Karma will come to haunt her. We can only pray to God to give her sadbuddhi.
Namaskar
Atmanirbhar is the pen-name of an aspiring satirist, who irregularly contributes a column, From the Vishwavguru Archives, and believes that ridicule and humour are central to freedom to speech and expression.
