KUTTA, BILLI, SAANP, NEVLA! WHO IS WHO, MR SHAH?

BJP president’s jibe at Didi, Sonia, Maya & Pawar; also wrong metaphor for Modi – compares him to a devastating flood

Political discourse on Friday sank to a new low – some would say gutter-level – with BJP President Ami Shah likening Modi to a devastating flood and the Opposition parties to helpless cats, dogs, snakes and mongoose, which are on the run and need to take refuge in the trunk of a banyan tree, as there are deep swirling waters below.

That Shah chose the vernacular language to express himself – in which the words ‘Kutta’ and ‘Billi’ sound like obnoxious abuse – is a matter over which all right thinking Indians need to mull.

It needed little imagination to infer that the remark was addressed to the likes of Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Mayawati and Sonia Gandhi who have initiated unity parleys to fend off the BJP in the general election. As to who is the ‘Kutta’ or the ‘Billi’ or the ‘saanp’ is a matter of political conjecture.

Ironically, Shah even forgot momentarily that the metaphor he had chosen for PM Modi – a devastating flood that brings death and destruction – was equally obnoxious and filthy.

As a denizen of twitter pointed out, ‘‘Amit Shah had just insulted the 69 percent Indians who according to him voted for dogs, bitches, cats and snakes.’’ The sentiment on social media was loud and empathetic – the BJP party chief must apologize to the nation.

Political observers lost no time in suggesting that the use of such filthy language -more than anything -- betrays the underlying anxieties and a certain desperation in the Modi camp. Shah, it is pointed out, is clearly jittery after the recent reverses in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls; nor is he too sanguine

‘Kutta, kutti, billi, saanp, nevla…

about the prospects in Karnataka. Nor are things looking good in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. No to forget the recent retreats on the Atrocity Bill and the CBSE exams. No wonder, he feels obliged to keep up the bluster and the rhetoric; only this time the connectivity with the masses is not there, which are inclined to call the saffron bluff.

In the face of the barrage of criticism, barely an hour after his brilliant animal analogy, Shah backtracked on his comments. He clarified that what he had implied was that parties with different ideologies were joining hands to fight the upcoming elections. He named the parties, and even offered regrets. "However, if somebody has felt offended, then I am naming all the parties now; there is nothing to feel bad about. Kindly don't twist my comments out of context," Shah pleaded before the media.

Shah's utterances unleashed a vicious reaction on the social media, with even veteran actor Nana Patekar chipping in and pointing that the Congress should at least get credit for ensuring democracy has survived in the country for the last seventy years.

The BJP chief, during his speech, insisted he was not unduly worried and asserted that the golden age of the BJP – when all good things will happen to the country -- is yet to come. “This is not the Golden Age of the BJP: that will come when we form governments in West Bengal and Odisha,” he said to lusty cheers from supporters.

Shah, keen to perpetuate the illusion that the party is till invincible, also declared he was confident that the BJP would win the 2019 general election with a bigger margin than in 2014. “Modi is a mass leader and people love him, his leadership has taken the BJP to even greater heights,” he said. “We are ruling in 20 states, and at the Centre. We are one of the biggest political parties in the world.’’