SURENDER MODI: JUST BAD SPELLER?

Rahul in the pillory for dig at PM

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was never known for his witty repartee, even though he provides much mirth for many other good reasons.

So, when he took a swipe at PM Modi on Sunday, saying that "Narendra Modi is actually Surender Modi," many were amused not as much at the intended pun, but at his penchant for poor spellings. Others felt, he had finally come of age and his witticisms were getting sharper by the day.

Gandhi had a dig at the prime minister in a tweet, wherein he tagged to his post an article by defence expert Brahma Chellaney, which had appeared in a foreign publication with the headline -"India's appeasement policy toward China unravels". Gandhi’s accompanying post read, "Narendra Modi Is actually Surender Modi".

Chellaney has written in his article in Japan Times that China’s “unexpected” manoeuvre should not have been unexpected at all. He also writes ‘‘deception, concealment and surprise often accompany China’s use of force with Chinese leaders repeatedly claiming that military pre-emption was a defensive measure. Its latest assault on India — which China claims is the actual aggressor — was taken straight from this playbook.’’

Then, comes the sting. Challaney writes that despite China’s brazen

record, Modi did not see the Chinese incursions coming. ‘‘His vision seems to have been clouded by the naive hope that, by appeasing China, he could reset the bilateral relationship and weaken China’s ties with Pakistan.’’

BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi slammed Gandhi and called him the "biggest Chinese propaganda handle." She took to twitter and said, "Sometimes what you see is not what it is, but what about what is, but we do not see? Twitter banned many Chinese propaganda handles but missed out on the biggest Chinese propaganda handle of all. Chinese social media has banned PM Modi’s handle & has allowed this handle.’’

Her colleague and BJP party president JP Nadda took Gandhi's words as a compliment. At the UP Jan Samvad virtual rally, Nadda said: "You say - 'Narendra Modi is Surender Modi'. That means you are saying that Modi-ji is not only the leader of humans but also of Gods".