Image via Indiatoday.com
New BJP President Amit Shah’s decision to drop Varun Gandhi from the post of party general secretary may have disappointed the latter but has left many senior Congress leaders livid. “How dare they treat a blue blooded Nehru-Gandhi so shabbily?” Mani Shankar Aiyar harrumphed, terming it a fascist move. “As long as a Nehru-Gandhi was the party general secretary, there was some hope for the BJP. But now its nazification is complete. Is there any more doubt left now that Amit Shah is Goebbels to Narendra Modi’s Hitler?” When our political correspondent Rajniti Sarkarwalla pointed out that Varun Gandhi was also a Stephenian, Mani Shankar broke down and began to weep.
Many other Congress leaders too were quick to condemn Amit Shah. “BJP should learn from Congress how to treat a Nehru-Gandhi,” AK Antony said. “No matter how much Rahul baba screws up, I’ll always be ready to write a report giving him a clean chit. And these chaps go and dump Varun, who is probably twice as intelligent as Rahul!!” Sushil Kumar Shinde shot a pellet from his air gun to convey his deep sense of disgruntlement while Manish Tewari cleared his throat to spew his soundbite: “In so far as Shri Varun Gandhi is concerned, he has always lent himself well to democratic dispensation in a holistic juxtaposition.”
A section of Congress leaders have now begun a campaign to make Varun Gandhi the new #2 of the Grand Old Party. “Look, the current #2 is lousy and his sister is acting too pricey. We desperately need a Nehru-Gandhi at the helm. So why not dump the Sonia-Rahul duo and have them replaced with Maneka-Varun?” a senior leader close to 10, Janpath reasoned.
Recovering from his catharsis, Mani Shankar Aiyar seconded that line of thought saying he saw glimpses of Rajiv in Varun. “That he would be welcomed by party rank and file is a given just as it is a given that he has Nehru-Gandhi DNA in his cells,” Aiyar blogged. “Some miserable sanghis with a political axe to grind may spread rumours that this could lead to a rift between Rahul and Varun. One only has to see pictures of two cousins together at a recent get together to learn the obvious: they completely adore each other.”