What will it take for Congress to be described as an elitist and casteist organization?

So, last evening, I found every Lutyens creature sympathizing whole heartedly with the plight of the Congress party. Why? Because Mani Shankar Aiyar has come out with yet another filthy remark against Modi. And this time it’s too close to Gujarat elections.

I am really searching through Twitter, but I am unable to spot a single instance of a Lutyens journalist or intellectual saying that Aiyar referring to Modi as a “neech” shows the horrendous, casteist mentality of the Congress Party. All I have seen is chest beating over “Why did he have to say it now?”

It’s like calling Modi a “neech” would have been okay as long as it did not happen just before Gujarat elections.

Along with that, there was all round sympathy for Rahul baba, who apparently is being let down by the motormouths in his party. There was not one who could point out that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi run their party like a pack of Pidis and that no Pidi would dare to say something that was not approved by Rahul and Sonia Gandhi.

The Dynasty has long been employing this word to describe Narendra Modi. Sonia Gandhi used it herself.

https://twitter.com/IndiaBTL/status/938823257188216832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
How much higher could Mani Shankar Aiyar have gone in the Congress Party hierarchy to get clearance for using the word “neech” against Modi?

And just the other day, the Congress Party boasted about the status of Rahul Gandhi as “not just a Hindu, but a janeu-dhari Hindu.”

How much more clear could Congress Party’s casteist mentality be before the so called intellectuals admit it’s more than just a “gaffe”?

Instead, intellectuals last night were busy making excuses, condemning Aiyar not for his casteist mentality, but for expressing it at the wrong time. And when Rahul Gandhi panicked and suspended Aiyar, they spent the rest of the night praising him for taking a stance in favor of civility.

Civility? Why yes of course… Who described the PM as “khoon ka dalal?” May I ask.

Oh… I remember. That doesn’t count. Because the one who said “khoon ka dalal” was Rahul Gandhi version No. 100 from last year and this is Rahul Gandhi version 101. Those remarks came before word went out to Media Pidis that Rahul ji should now be described as a social media superstar.

What will it take for the Congress to be described as a deeply casteist and elitist organization? Their boss boasting about his janeu-dhari status isn’t enough? Sonia ji and Priyanka ji calling Modi a “neech” isn’t enough? The Youth Congress magazine asking Modi to stick to selling tea isn’t enough? Ghulam Nabi Azad referring to Modi as a “Gangu Teli” (Modi comes from the Teli caste) is not enough?

All these abuses hurled over the years are not enough?

https://twitter.com/AmitShah/status/938751955446374400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Then what is enough?

Nothing will ever be enough. Because in the eyes of intellectual Pidis, the Congress is forever innocent by default. Anytime they say something indefensible, it’s just bad luck for some reason. Or stupidity. Because they can never be evil. Because they can never bite the hand that feeds.

So last night it was apparently all about Mani Shankar Aiyar not understanding Hindi well enough. Never mind that Aiyar is an ex-diplomat who worked for the Indian Foreign Service. Speaking to people in foreign languages, weighing every word carefully so as not to give the wrong impression… that is what Aiyar spent an entire career doing. Today Hindi is so foreign for him that the man has no idea that calling people “neech” is a casteist insult.

On the flip side, every word that comes out of the mouth of anyone in the BJP, no matter how lowly an office bearer, an ordinary cadre or any member of VHP or RSS, or pretty much anybody who wears saffron… is connected to Narendra Modi personally.

When a BJP member says something untoward, it’s always their lowly mentality getting exposed. When a Congressi says something indefensible, it’s always a gaffe.

The other day I was reading the following description of Sharad Yadav’s sexist remarks in Newslaundry.

That’s right. When Sharad Yadav makes disparaging comments on women with short hair, he doesn’t become a sexist jackass. He just becomes someone who is “closely connected to the ground.”

That is why modern liberalism has become so hollow and ineffective. Because every single ideal they claim to stand for has been sold out in service of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi.

Abhishek Banerjee: Abhishek Banerjee is a columnist and author.