Foot firmly in mouth, Rahul throws a Rafale lifeline to Lekhi
Most politicians are born with the foot-in-the-mouth syndrome. It’s congenital to them. They inadvertently blurt out or write things that they later come to regret. They are disciplined by their party, the government or even the judiciary. But that’s about it. In the case of Rahul Gandhi, however, his reckless remark not only led to an apology of sorts to the Supreme Court but also helped to resuscitate the dying political career of BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi.
The sitting BJP MP from New Delhi was all set to walk into the oblivion. The writing on the wall was clear. Her party was unhappy with the lacklustre performance and was going to deny her the ticket. That was when Rahul Gandhi turned her saviour by making ill-considered remarks on the Rafale deal and the Supreme Court’s ruling on it.
On April 11 the Supreme Court rejected a plea by the Centre to ignore documents that had come to light on Rafale. The court was re-examining its order on the jet fighter deal. The ruling was clearly a setback for the government.
Far from cashing in on the discomfort of the government, Rahul Gandhi went ahead and mis-interpreted the ruling and landed himself in trouble. He told journalists: “A few days back, PM Modi gave an interview and told the journalist that the SC has given him a clean chit. Supreme Court has made it clear that ‘chowkidar’ allowed the theft. SC has accepted that some sort of corruption has taken place in the Rafale deal.”
Not content with just going out on a limb, he wanted to rub it in. “SC has said— Chowkidar Ne Chori Ki Hai”, he said, implying that the SC has said that the chowkidar has committed theft.
Meenakshi Lehki, on the advice of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, rushed to the SC filing a contempt petition against Rahul Gandhi. She accused him of contempt of court for saying that the court has ruled that ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai.’
The court issued notices to Rahul Gandhi and he has since expressed regret. But lady luck smiled on Lekhi and she got back into the good books of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. She has been given the ticket to contest the prestigious New Delhi seat for her initiative that embarrassed Rahul.
As a result, cricketer Gautam Gambhir who was to replace Meenakshi Lekhi has been given the East Delhi seat. Jaitley who had introduced the cricketer to the party had sought a Delhi ticket for him.
