Or the real tea-seller?
Narendra Modi or Lalu Prasad
Yadav?
‘I am the real one.’ - Lalu Yadav
has made this startling claim in response to Narendra Modi’s efforts to draw
electoral mileage from his tea-selling past.
Before this, we did not know that
we had any other political dignitary that Mr. Modi from the tea-selling
background.
But, Mr. Yadav’s words imply that
Mr. Modi’s claims are not to be taken seriously.
Lalu Yadav has contended that
Narendra Modi’s claims of being a tea-seller in his childhood days are not
creditworthy. Mr. Yadav says he is the original (real) tea-seller of the Indian
politics.
Lalu Yadav, who has been
notoriously famous for his funny remarks and bantered speeches, said he never
found it necessary to tell people about his tea-selling childhood days.
Modesty it may be, but, we cannot
say this was a compassionate decision. Whatever be the truth behind Mr. Modi’s
tea-boy time, he has eternally been on it, claiming and promoting his
tea-selling past. He has been a durable brand ambassador for the tea-sellers
across the country.
Lalu Yadav’s tea-selling background
could have been a bonus on that. The additional branding mileage that they
would have got with Lalu’s endorsement could well have expedited their arrival
on the political scene much before. Tea-sellers should sue Lalu Yadav for this
unnecessary delay.
Okay, that is for the loss of the
tea-vendors and they need to think about that. But Lalu, too, has harmed his
political prospects by proclaiming his tea-selling background so late. Suppose,
if he plans to counter Modi’s ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ by launching a parallel discussion-on-tea
sort of exercise, he would not be able to gain support from the tea-vendors.
And given the prospect of
significant political returns by this branding exercise (reaching around 200
million people in 300 cities same day, same time, every week, until the Lok
Sabha polls are held), Mr. Yadav’s reaction is natural.
But, how can this be Mr. Modi’s
fault if Lalu Yadav could not see the opportunity to gain electoral mileage
from the mighty cup of tea, part of almost every Indian’s daily routine, at
home, in office, at the roadside tea-stall? If Lalu acted late then why is he
blaming Mr. Modi now?
Also, Mr. Yadav needs to blame
Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar before blaming Mr. Modi, the senior Congress politician
whose ill-timed jibe at Narendra Modi’s tea-selling past gave Mr. Modi an idea
to exploit the public sentiments by connecting to the people during their
tea-time at tea-vending spots, dotted across the country, to sell his ‘for the
common man’ dreams in the typical common-man-way.
Mr. Aiyar, a member of Lalu
Yadav’s political ally Congress, should have discussed first it with Mr. Yadav,
before targeting Mr. Modi. Based on his vast political experience and his magnanimous
silence on his tea-selling background, Mr. Yadav could have advised Mr. Aiyar
well.
But that is a lost opportunity
now. Like with several other precedents, this time too, Ahmedabad has scored
over Patna.
In the age of hyped up political
branding exercises, Mr. Modi has moved first and has accelerated fast.
Whether he was a tea-boy or not
doesn’t matter now. Who’s the real one, Mr. Modi
or Mr. Yadav, is a futile question in the prevailing political circumstances
with Mr. Modi clearly jetting ahead with his first-mover advantage.
Mr. Yadav, better luck next time.