Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday virtually bowled people out by describing Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as “Nelson Mandela of India” at the time when India-South Africa are playing Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela cricket series.
Within minutes after Modi tweeted on the social networking microsite, comparing five-time Chief Minister with the former South African President and an anti-apartheid revolutionary, #YoBadalSoMandela began trending on the second spot.
Indian twitterati, including the politicians, journalists and individuals, started hurling bouncers at Modi. He, in fact, ended up himself being described as “Vasco-de-Gama of India” and “a man with great sense of humour”.
Providing fodder to the people, Modi commended the Punjab Chief Minister for his political struggle and compared him with Mandela during a function to pay tribute to socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan on his 113th birth anniversary on Sunday in the national Capital.
The comparison, however, failed to go down well with the people, culminating in a hashtag — #YoBadalSoMandela, with references being made to the drugs menace in Punjab, Badal family’s business interests, besides the ongoing farming crisis in the State including suicides and ‘rail roko’ agitation.
The reactions, ranging from mocking the adulation to settling political brownie points, followed after Modi told a gathering in New Delhi: “Badal Sahib is sitting here...he is the Nelson Mandela of India. The only crime of people like Badal Sahib was that they had political views different from those in power.”
The function, attended by senior BJP leaders lK Advani and Kalyan Singh, was organised to commemorate the 113th birth anniversary of socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan.
Modi said that there were some “special families” for whom pages of history had been written after they made very little sacrifices. However, he said, it was unfortunate that very few in the country were aware of the fact that in free India, Badal had been jailed for around two decades solely for political reasons.
He said that the Punjab leader had suffered just for opposing those in power.
Time and again, Badal and his coterie has been highlighting his jail terms, claiming that the Akali veteran has spent nearly 17-18 years in jail, including the time spent behind bars during the emergency. However, his
arch-rival and senior Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh has often questioned Badal’s claims.
“Mandela spent 27 years in jail in isolation and solitary confinement fighting against apartheid, while Badal may not have spent a total of even 27 months in jail and most of the time in luxury and hospitality of the government,” said the former chief minister, adding that most of his jail terms were voluntary as he would always hide behind the safety and the hospitality of the government guest houses after sparking trouble in Punjab and getting people killed.
Taking a dig at Modi for his comparison, Capt Amarinder Singh said: “Who says our Prime Minister does not have a sense of humourIJ”
“Either it is a tongue-in-cheek comment by the Prime Minister and he really did not mean what he said, or he actually does not know what he is saying…if Modi really meant so, it is an insult to the great stature of Nelson Mandela who singlehanded fought against and defeated the apartheid in South Africa,” said the Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha.
Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Capt Amarinder remarked, “if Modi seriously means Badal to be the Nelson Mandela of India, then, I am sure, he might be thinking that like Mandela, he (Badal) deserves a Bharat Ratna and Nobel Peace Prize also and he should really lobby for him”.
Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa also tweeted, “Dear PM, please have some pity on the legendary Nelson Mandela. Don’t compare him with Ali Baba of Punjab”. In another tweet, Bajwa pointed, “Under Badal government, farmers are dying, 70 per cent youth of Punjab is hooked to drugs, and PM Modi calls Badal Nelson Mandela of India”.
Not only in Punjab, Modi’s statement received sharp criticism from Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) head Arvind Kejriwal. “Badal Nelson Mandela of IndiaIJ” he tweeted.
latching on to Modi’s remark, Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha tweeted, “Modi ji just proved why he is our own Donald Trump”. Supreme Court’s senior advocate Sanjay Hegde tweeted, “That he spent years in prison for Sikh panth in Bhindrawale and Post Blue Star era”.