MANOEUVRING MYTHOLOGY

A WEIRD logic offered by a Madhya Pradesh minister to explain deficit rainfall being experienced in some parts of the state has landed the ruling BJP in an awkward situation.

State energy minister Paras Chandra Jain had attributed to the “sacrilegious” act of pouring milk on roads by farmers during their recent stir in the state to the dry spell.

“Milk is offered to Hindu gods and hence is considered sacred by Hindus. The farmers have incurred the wrath of Hindu gods by dumping milk on the road. Bad monsoon is manifestation of their displeasure,” explained Mr Jain, seemingly enjoying his eureka moment. His “unheard of mythological theory” explaining monsoon failure had impressed his followers, but created confusion among the people in rural areas.

People in the villages had challenged the theory saying that rain is linked to deity Indra. A smart BJP leader saved the minister’s blushes by floating a new theory linking rain to Lord Shiv.

“Deity Ganga, the holy river, finds her abode over Lord Shiv’s head. Hence, obviously she will be affected causing scarcity of water through dry spell or in any other way if Lord Shiv, who loves to take bath in milk, gets angry,” the BJP leader, a close aide of the minister, said, asking party workers to push the theory with the people.

“Mythology can be manoeuvred confidently because no God will issue a denial,” he contended.

The issue is dead now.