Harshvardhan’s nomination: Cong quiet, AAP goes berserk
24 Oct 2013 11:34 PM GMT
The nomination of Harshvardhan as Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly elections drew mixed reactions from the rival parties.
While arch rival Congress did not comment on the matter, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) went berserk with its comments on the development.
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal called Harshvardhan ‘Manmohan Singh’ of BJP and went on to post a link of an old news item published by a news agency accusing him of praising Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
Kejriwal tweeted: ‘In 2010, Dr Harshvardhan actually praised Mrs Dikshit and said Delhiites were very fortunate to have her. Why fighting against her now.’ The comment has, however, been found to be misleading.
This reporter was present at the book launch of Capital Phenomenon written by senior journalist Sidharth Mishra where Harshvardhan is alleged to have praised Dikshit, who was also present on the dais. Harshvardhan has written the foreword for the book which he read out at the event in Dikshit’s presence. The first line of each paragraph starts with praising Dikshit but the entire foreword is filled with her criticism.
‘This type of criticism is called “sarcasm”, which was often used by BJP patriarch and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,’ explained KG Suresh, professor at Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Mass Communication and former chief political correspondent with the Press Trust of India.
Experts in the academic field also gave the same view over the criticism, which is characterised by irony. For instance, in the said event held on 8 July, 2010, Harshvardhan said, ‘Sheila Dikshit is a very beautiful and smart politician.’ In the same breath he pointed out several of Dikshit’s faults ‘which the media never talked about’.
While arch rival Congress did not comment on the matter, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) went berserk with its comments on the development.
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal called Harshvardhan ‘Manmohan Singh’ of BJP and went on to post a link of an old news item published by a news agency accusing him of praising Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
Kejriwal tweeted: ‘In 2010, Dr Harshvardhan actually praised Mrs Dikshit and said Delhiites were very fortunate to have her. Why fighting against her now.’ The comment has, however, been found to be misleading.
This reporter was present at the book launch of Capital Phenomenon written by senior journalist Sidharth Mishra where Harshvardhan is alleged to have praised Dikshit, who was also present on the dais. Harshvardhan has written the foreword for the book which he read out at the event in Dikshit’s presence. The first line of each paragraph starts with praising Dikshit but the entire foreword is filled with her criticism.
‘This type of criticism is called “sarcasm”, which was often used by BJP patriarch and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,’ explained KG Suresh, professor at Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Mass Communication and former chief political correspondent with the Press Trust of India.
Experts in the academic field also gave the same view over the criticism, which is characterised by irony. For instance, in the said event held on 8 July, 2010, Harshvardhan said, ‘Sheila Dikshit is a very beautiful and smart politician.’ In the same breath he pointed out several of Dikshit’s faults ‘which the media never talked about’.
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