A vulgar show of one-upmanship

Former Union Finance Minister, the late Arun Jaitley, a well-educated leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), posed this question in a blog post following a stormy winter session of parliament in December 2015. "Falsehood delivered with vulgar overtones is not a substitute for truth. Lumpenisation of public discourse can never be the high point of politics," he rightly pointed out adding that people in positions are expected to act with restraint and they cannot be outlandish. "Vulgarity is not a right available to them," he stated.

The politics of vulgarity, coupled with animosity, witnessed a new low during the BJP's National Executive Committee meeting held in Hyderabad, aka Bhagyanagar, on July 2 and 3. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) diluted the seriousness of the pertinent public issues it raised by targeting Prime Minster Modi while the BJP disappointed people by completely ignoring the genuine demands put forward by the nation's youngest State, during its NEC.

The TRS as well as the BJP further dented the general public's perception of politics as an activity of indecent and undisciplined characters. The fiercest salvos fired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and the TRS working president K Taraka Rama Rao were firmly met by the BJP leaders, except Modi, at the Vijay Sankalpa Sabha.

Modi, true to his style, didn't mention KCR or KTR or TRS in his speech much to the disappointment of the party leaders and analysts. We don't know whether Modi went by the clichéd quote, "weak people revenge, strong people forgive and intelligent people ignore," but his speech at Parade Grounds was unbelievably different from the one he had delivered at Begumpet only 38 days ago to tear the 'despotic family rule' to pieces. It's Modi's choice but where are the answers to the key issues confronted by Telangana.

Had Modi, visibly very happy with the turnout, given assurances on three to five long-pending issues from Parade Grounds, it would have brought more mileage for the BJP. But, sadly, both parties developed the habit of deliberately ignoring the issues raised by rival parties.

TRS: Advertisement space

The TRS top brass went all out to show its vengeance against the Modi government during the BJP's NEC. It blocked all available advertisement space two days before the event and pumped money from the public exchequer to avail the premier advertisement space in media. All metro rail pillars wore pink, and big hoardings came up to welcome the Opposition's presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha, a 1960 batch IAS and a prominent leader of the BJP 1.0.

KCR personally accorded a rousing reception to Sinha, unfavorable arithmetic notwithstanding, and fired salvos against Modi. In light of Maharashtra manoeuvres, he dared the BJP to pull down his government. KCR accused the Modi administration of 'successfully killing democracy every day, throttling the federal system of India and toppling governments which do not toe their line."

A day before the NEC, KTR took to Twitter to mock the BJP leadership. "Welcome the WhatsApp University for its executive council meeting to the beautiful city of Hyderabad. To all the Jhumla Jeevis. Don't forget to enjoy our Dum Biryani and Irani Chani," it reads. It's unbecoming of a CM material.

In January, KTR redefined the BJP's acronym to "Bakwas Jumla Party (Nonsense, Fake Promises Party)." A BJP karyakartha, apparently inspired by KTR, abbreviated BRS, the proposed national version of the TRS, as 'Beer, Rum and Scotch' to make a dig at KCR's personal habit. Creativity has been overflowing at the cost of decency here.

KTR shot off a letter to the BJP leaders, titled: Aao, Dekho, Seekho (come, see and learn), besides retweeting TRS Party's thread on the developmental activities in "PM's preferred language" (Guajarati). KTR is mature enough to understand that the 'Aao-Jao' kind of language is not respectable but political compulsions demand such coarseness. KTR, in his letter, said that the BJP carries hostility and narrow-mindedness in its DNA and its real agenda is hatred and its ideology was divisive politics.

A day after the NEC, KTR put up another interesting tweet, a collage of Modi's past speeches in which he questions: "Kya Kaaran Hain Hindustan Ka Rupayya Pathlaa Ho Raha Hain?" KTR sought to know whether "Kisi BJP Ke Uttar Kumar Ke Pas Hain Uttar?" While 'uttar' means 'answer', Uttar Kumar is a character in the epic Mahabharat that symbolises an empty boastful talk.

KTR retweeted a tweet on the State BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar's claim that Modi ji had stopped Russia-Ukraine war for the safe passage of Telugu students with a hilarious comment: "WhatsApp University & it's meritorious students & their hilarious make believe universe (sic)." The Union minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, who stayed back in Hyderabad to attend an official programme, later termed KCR as "Mungeri Lal" (a joker in a Hindi serial of 1990s). There seems to be no end to such comic remarks, pot-shots and tirades.

There was a 'money heist' gang, donning the red overalls and dali masks, to expose multi-crore bank frauds, during the NEC. It was seen in many places holding placards that read: 'We only rob banks. You rob the whole nation. #BYEBYEMODI.' Some hoardings accused Modi of robbing the entire nation while some referred to the false claims of KCR.

BJP: Countdown clock

BJP should be blamed for its role in kick-starting an indecent political war in the run-up to the NEC. Buoyed by the popular support that it received in recent times, the BJP put up a big hoarding at its headquarters with a picture of KCR with a slogan: "Salu Dora, Selavu Dora" in a typical Telangana slang. It indicates that enough is enough and KCR should go. In addition to this, the BJP set up a digital board with an electronic clock showing a countdown for the rule of KCR.

It displayed the number of days left for KCR each passing day. If you open 'selavudora.com', you can find the 'Kalavakuntla countdown' board. There is an option to sign up to join "the movement against Kalavakuntla family rule."

I consider it a clear, innovative political provocation. In retaliation, the TRS put out a huge banner of Modi with a slogan "Saalu Modi-Champaku Modi" (Enough is enough. Modi, don't kill). A firebrand TRS MLA announced that if BJP didn't remove the countdown clock, his party would garland Modi''s hoardings with footwear.

Is this the way of treating elected governments? Will it not be a huge embarrassment for the BJP, if Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal puts up the world's biggest countdown clock against Modi government at the international airport in the national capital? KCR won't mind sponsoring for such a novel initiative as part of his national ambitions. Nobody would stop you from campaigning to dethrone governments but these kinds of extreme steps are unwarranted.

The TRS leaders put up anti-Modi posters on the advertisement panels on the road dividers near Parade Grounds. They also put up a huge hoarding near the venue, with a slogan: "Bye Bye Modi." The BJP top leaders time and again make wild corruption allegations, as they did at Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra, against KCR but what is preventing them to initiate action is a million dollar question.

I guess the State BJP has spent between Rs.15-20 crores to organise the prestigious political event but the TRS government ended up shelling out double, if not triple, preventing BJP from getting wider publicity and visibility. Once again, public money has gone to drains in the war of political one-upmanship.

The late BJP leader, Arun Jaitley, in the aforementioned blog post, observed that vulgarity doesn't buy votes. Political parties and leaders are not in a mood to listen to the sagacious observation. In contrast, politicians, irrespective of ideological frameworks, strongly believe that exhibition of vulgarity and animosity only ensures more votes.

(The author, a Ph.D. in Communication and Journalism, is a senior journalist, journalism educator, and communication consultant)