A parity of reasoning?

Sorry, that's not what the tea leaves are saying or indeed how politics works

The always-reliable Congress when it comes to scoring spectacular self-goals at crucial political moments has delivered, again. This time, as a Mani Shankar Aiyar redux ‘chaiwala' jibe in the form a meme shared by the Youth Congress on Twitter against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While renowned motormouth Aiyar naturally shared his views in the form of soundbite, the entitled torchbearers of this legacy of entitlement preferred the social media platform to display their cosy club bias. But there is one difference. At least the latter apologised immediately for the meme (and deleted it) when they were called out and the party brass is clearly upset with the kind of mindset on display counter-intuitive though such a sentiment is for the baba log; one suspects the contribution of the original chaiwala jibe to their electoral debacle in the 2014 General Election may have something to do with their being aghast.  Both the Youth Congress in its apology and the parent party in its distancing of the Congress from the meme, however, did try on the parity-of-reasoning argument. They referenced the clearly small-minded and misogynist tweets shared by the BJP's IT Cell head on Jawaharlal Nehru, depicted in photographs in the company of women including his sister Vijaylakshmi Pandit, niece and friend Edwina Mountbatten to portray him as a, for lack of a better word, rake. That was indeed pathetic, but what the Congress has still not understood is that this is not about whataboutery. 

Since the once-dominant party of India has in the main, especially post-Nehru, only understood the notion of electoral politics to the detriment of all other components of post-colonial nation building, let us be cynical for its edification. It does not matter, politically-electorally, if the BJP IT head was being a twit, malicious and misogynist (which he was). One can argue that he represents a non-cosmopolitan, arguably anti-Indic intrusive aesthetic, which would also be correct. But he is addressing the anti-Nehru faithful who are cut from the same cloth as him in terms of their value system, worldview and what they find acceptable in a national leader, and what they do not. Most sensible Indians including in the BJP have already disapproved of this kind of offensive and collegiate public discourse. But when it comes to ‘chaiwala' Modi there is a different yardstick in play because, whether the Congress-Left likes it or not, here is clearly a man and politician who has been anything but entitled, is an exemplar of the meritocratic trend in Indian politics, and has assumed the modern-day mantle of what has been called the notion of the saintly in Indian politics. Plus, he is a contemporary, widely popular leader who has demolished the Congress electorally. Most importantly, a majority of Congress — indeed Indian — voters are not entitled, privileged baba log like their leaders and would have been as upset at the chaiwala jibe against the Prime Minister as the next man or woman. Get it?