Congress rakes up non-issue of Modi’s marriage
It is extremely unfortunate that the anti-Modi lobby within the political system and outside has decided to exploit the issue of Mr Narendra Modi's marital status as an election tool. In the first place, the matter is of a personal nature and has no bearing whatsoever, regardless of the strenuous efforts that his rivals have been making, to the political discourse which the country is interested in and which impacts their lives and livelihood. It is an open secret that Mr Modi's marriage took place when both he and his wife were children, as part of a social ritual. It is also a fact that Mr Modi stayed away from the situation — and even his home — thereafter and devoted himself to the work of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and later the Bharatiya Janata Party. Since then till now, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate has scrupulously disconnected himself from his family, and is known to only visit his mother occasionally. So, it is not as if Mr Modi had ‘disowned' his wife. It is true that he had not been mentioning his marital status in the affidavits that he has had to file in connection with the Assembly elections in Gujarat since 2002. But that is not the same as lying, which his critics are shouting from the roof-top by way of an allegation. And, nor had he flouted any legal provision. Mr Modi never said in any affidavit that he wasn't married. He has accepted his marital status this time because the court had directed prospective candidates to given complete information on the affidavit form. By doing so, he has only adhered to the instructions of the court, just as everybody else is supposed to do.
His opponents, who are going hammer and tongs at him, fail to realise that they have no credible case to malign him. Neither had Mr Modi ever denied his marital status nor has his wife ever demonstrated any grievance against him over the issue, or over any other matter. So, there is no case of a lie and no case of an aggrieved party. What then is the brouhaha aboutIJ Interestingly, Mr Modi's wife has reportedly been praying for his success in the election. Perhaps the hyperactive women activists, who have been speaking on her behalf in an unsolicited manner, should join her in her prayers!
But the Congress, from Rahul Gandhi down, has latched on to Mr Modi's ‘disclosure' of being married as an election issue and is seeking to derive political mileage out of it. Party leaders have decided to milk it for whatever it is worth — and it is worth nothing, really. The Congress has embarked upon this obnoxious campaign because nothing else is working for it. It has been left behind on the issues of governance and decisive leadership, the two subjects around which the BJP's campaign has revolved. There is a strong sense of anti-incumbency and a pro-BJP sentiment, which is reflected also in the high voter turnouts that the country has seen in the constituencies which have gone to poll so far. The party is desperate to shift public focus from its governance failures to personal matters of its political rivals. It is this desperation that is driving the Congress to stoop to a new low. But the more Mr Rahul Gandhi and his men target the BJP's prime ministerial candidate on such a deeply personal issue, the more will Mr Modi stand to gain. The Congress has, therefore, been ill-advised to adopt this line of attack.