No simile this

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan continues to have his foot in his mouth. In his latest diatribe against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he has rhetorically asked whether Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter could be a contender for Indian prime ministership if she married an Indian. The straight answer is: yes, under the Indian Constitution, she would indeed be eligible to contest for the post. She could even become prime minister if she won the election and got the support of a majority of the members of the Lok Sabha. Of course, in asking this silly question, Mahajan was trying to stress his party’s point that naturalised citizens should not be eligible for certain high posts in the country. However, he has used the wrong simile. Sharif is the head of government of a neighbouring state with which India has diplomatic, if not friendly, relations. There was no need to drag his or his daughter’s name into the election campaign when they had no connection with it. ACabinet minister holding a portfolio as important as Information and Broadcasting is expected to be more thoughtful and discreet in such matters. Who does not know that diplomatic etiquette demands that no such references are made in an election, which is entirely the internal affair of a country?

Obviously, Mahajan has not learnt any lesson from the flak he received for his reference to Monica Lewinsky in one of his election speeches in the early phase of the campaign. Whether or not he "compared" the Congress chief with the former White House intern, it was certainly distasteful of him to have mentioned her name in the context in which he made it. All his subsequent explanations and "regrets" did not detract from the incalculable damage he caused to the BJP’s campaign by his thoughtless reference. Small wonder that it had forced Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and BJP president Kushabhau Thakre to advise party leaders not to indulge in personal attacks which didn’t redound to the credit of the party. Pastelections have conclusively proved that the use of undignified language never pays. In fact, Mahajan’s reference to Monica and Defence Minister George Fernandes’ vituperation against Sonia Gandhi seem to have had the opposite effect, if the reaction from a cross-section of the people is anything to go by.

Political leaders are free to argue that a foreign-born citizen should have no right to hold certain posts in the country. Having incorporated this provision in the election manifesto of the National Democratic Alliance, the leaders of the alliance should have left the matter to the decision of the voters. In Bellary, where Sonia Gandhi was herself the candidate, the contest was almost wholly on the `foreign versus Indian’ issue. The same is true of Amethi, where again she is the Congress candidate. The leaders of the NDA have every right to conscientise the voters about the need to amend the Constitution but that does not mean using undignified language and making unwarranted comparisons. The averageIndian voter may not be very educated but he knows exactly when a campaign crosses the bounds of decency. And he also knows how to discipline those who pay scant regard to the values that govern elections. Mahajan and his ilk would do well to remember this.