Thiruvananthapuram: Former Union minister and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha said it was high time the people of the country decided whether prime minister Narendra Modi was paradoxical or plain absurd. “How could someone take a decision like demonetisation? What kind of arrogance was that,” Sinha asked while releasing Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister', which, according to Tharoor, is a detailed analysis of the four-and-a-half years of Modi's rule.
Shatrughan Sinha, known as the most vehement in-house critic of Modi, called the note ban a 'Tughlaqian decision'. “Why couldn't he think of the women who have over the years hidden money in cupboards and under pillows so that their wastrel husbands don't snatch it away. He never thought of daily wagers, small traders, farmers, and even tea sellers,” Sinha said. The mention of 'tea seller', however, came with a sly smile. Earlier in his speech, too, Sinha had thrown a jibe at Modi's 'tea seller' roots.
Sinha said there were people who had questioned his right to talk critically about demonetisation and GST. “I was reminded by these people that I was from the film industry and was asked how I could even think of talking complicated economics. I tell them that if a man selling tea could reach such heights, why can't I with so many years of experience in the film industry talk about demonetisation,” Sinha said. And then, as if dismissing his own words, he said: “This man was no tea seller. That was a story made up to cultivate the Modi cult.”
The Bollywood veteran said he had no personal animosity against Narendra Modi. “What I am against is the one-man show and the two-man army,” he said referring to the personality cult around Modi, and the Modi-Amit Shah combine's iron grip on the party machinery.
Tharoor also said his book was not a blind criticism of Modi, and once again invoked the 29-alphabet, nearly unpronounceable word that he had made popular while introducing 'The Pradoxical Prime Minister' on Twitter two months ago. Floccinaucinihilipilification. “My book is not an attempt to say the man was worthless. I have also said many nice things about the man. That was why I had earlier said this book was not an attempt at floccinaucinihilipilification,” Tharoor said.
So then, what is the paradox?
Tharoor said in his 2015 book 'India Shastra: Reflections on the Nation in our Time', which was a critique of Modi's first six months in power, he had written that while the prime minister was making liberal pronouncements like 'Sabke Saath Sabka Vikas' he was depending on the support of the most illiberal elements. "In this contradiction lies the seeds of his failure, I had said in the book," Tharoor said, and added: "The next four years the prime minister has spent proving me right." In fact, 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister' begins with the triumphant words "I told you so..."
Modi's rule is littered with paradoxes. “Modi is perhaps the most eloquent PM the country has seen but when Dalits are flogged or when the son of a Muslim havildar is beaten to death on the suspicion that he has stored beef, this eloquent prime minister becomes mysteriously silent,” Tharoor said.
There is a shocking Ministry of Home Affairs statistic that Tharoor presents in the book's second chapter titled 'The Modification of India'. “Of all the incidents of communal violence related to cow protection in the country since Independence, 98 per cent have taken place during Modi's rule.”
Turning to Sinha, Tharoor said: “We know you too are uncomfortable with what is going on.” And then, more seriously than in jest, Tharoor made an offer. “In the UPA there is always room for a hero like you. The red carpet is always there.” Sinha just smiled, and he did not touch upon the issue in his speech.
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