Some public persons have an insatiable appetite for the limelight and will say or do the most ridiculous things to court attention. Politicians and film stars head the category of those seeking to stay in the news mostly for the wrong reasons. An old adage that all publicity is good publicity drives them to extremes of passion, often with negative consequences, but they are undeterred. The Congress party's motor-mouth MP from Thiruvananthapuram must, however, be complimented for being indefatigable in his pursuit of television cameras. He has a long record of embarrassing his own party and other associates through his hyperbole. But curiously for him all censure is water off ducks' back. His mouth is back rolling out provocative remarks within hours of the earlier one losing steam.
The energetic middle-aged MP has now prophesied that a BJP victory in 2019 will turn India into a Hindu Pakistan. The remark was aimed at irritating not only the RSS-BJP but also his own party, which has advised him to show restraint while commenting on issues. Needless to add, this will further encourage him to aggressively woo the media with more such remarks so that he figures on TV channels and newspaper columns without a break. That the "Hindu Pakistan" claim is asinine is to say the least. India's deep-rooted culture of diversity and pluralism was sought to be subverted only once since Independence, that too by a deceased leader of his own party whose foreign policy this MP has extolled in several tomes. He would do well to write his next volume on "How to stay in the limelight by promoting absurdities". A profitable career awaits him in this arena.