On Wednesday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu quietly distributed an August 29, 1944 letter written by Jawaharlal Nehru to his sister Krishna Hutheesing suggesting that a “proper horoscope” be made for his grandson Rajiv Gandhi. Naidu’s office also pulled out an April 13, 1987 circular by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, which directs all principals not to declare holidays on festivals and make children observe them in schools. These are just two examples of the historical nuggets that the BJP-led government has dug out from the archives to take the Opposition head on. The advice, it is learnt, came from PM Narendra Modi. “Hum ne koi paap nahin kiya (We have not done anything wrong). We are on the right side. So there is no question of yielding to Opposition pressure,” Modi is believed to have instructed a group of senior ministers, including Naidu and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on Wednesday morning. Frustrated over the Opposition’s relentless attack on the government and the inability to move ahead with legislative business, Modi has asked senior ministers to pull out facts and “equip themselves” to launch a major counter-offensive, most prominently on social media. This, the party hopes, would help the government get public opinion in its favour. The same tactic will be used by the government to push key reform bills, including Insurance Bill, stalled in Rajya Sabha due to protests by the Opposition. To accomplish this, Naidu’s ministry has meticulously prepared a list with instances of important bills passed by the previous UPA government amid din in the house. The PM has told the ministers that they should be aware of facts and precedences in Parliament to counter the Opposition. “Go to the people directly. Tell them the facts” is the PM’s latest message. The Navodaya letter from 1987 is to take on the Opposition, which has moved privilege motions against Jaitley and Naidu in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha respectively, for misleading the Houses on the HRD Ministry’s circular about observing ‘Good Governance Day’ in Navodaya schools on December 25. The 1987 letter states: “All festivals should be celebrated in the Vidyalaya only and children should not be permitted to visit their homes during festival time.” Nehru’s letter, distributed to BJP MPs as well as the media, is to counter the opposition’s criticism against HRD Minister Smriti Irani for visiting an astrologer. The letter states: “In my letter to Indu (Indira Gandhi) I suggested to her to ask you to get a proper horoscope made by a competent person. Such permanent records of the date and time of birth are desirable. As for the time, I suppose the proper solar time should be mentioned and not the artificial time which is being used outside now.” Another note cites instances of Irani’s predecessor in the UPA performing “chair Puja” to purify the furniture.
