Dear Mrs Vadra, Are You A Dud Like Rahul?

On Thursday, The Times of India had reported that BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in an interview to DoorDarshan had refused to attack Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra by saying that she was “like his daughter”. Now it seems Times of India either received wrong information from its sources on the ‘censored’ Narendra Modi interview or its interpretational capacities are completely wrong.

The Indian Express today reported that the interview, which was recorded on the morning of April 26 and broadcasted on the night of April 27 had a completely different tone. The national daily says: This is what the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate is learnt to have said in the interview aired on April 27: “Beti maa ke liye kuchh bhi karegi, bhai ke liye kuchh bhi karegi, usey iska avsar bhi milna chahiye… Maa aur bhai ke liye nahin karegi to kiske liye karegi? Beti ke naatey Priyanka jo bhi boley main kabhi bura nahin manoonga… Beti toh beti hai.

Which translates as, “A daughter will do anything for her mother, for her brother. She should get an opportunity to do so as well. Who else will she do it for if not for her mother and brother? I will never take offence at whatever Priyanka says as a daughter. A daughter is after all a daughter.”

The rest of the report deals as to what more was ‘cut’ from the interview and what DD had to say about it.

The error which was widely circulated can be ignored because the underlining is clear that “Modi refused to attack Priyanka”. But what is surprising is the reaction from ‘daughter’ Gandhi.

When asked by reporters in Amethi what she thought about Modi likening her to his daughter, Priyanka gave a childish answer: “I am Rajiv Gandhi’s daughter.”

Did it really reprimand such a ‘sharp’ answer? And if Priyanka is so offended by anyone likening her to their daughter, she must stop telling Amethi and Raebareli janata that she is like their daughter.

Similarly, she and her Congress cavalry had raised hell for she had felt offended when BJP leader Uma Bharti had called her “Vadra ki gharwali”. Is she not? Or the paradigm of relations are different?

Cartoonist Manjul captured the essence of her answer quite beautifully and tweeted:

I am Rajiv Gandhi’s daughter: Priyanka’s retort to Modi. My #cartoon pic.twitter.com/Y0CbivHPTe

— MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) May 2, 2014

And this gives rise to an important question: Is the so-called savior of Congress, Mrs Vadra, a dud like her brother?