Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Untalented Mr. Kulkarni

It's been a month since i have started reading the papers again - Indian Express, my usual favorite. my decision on papers is usually on two fronts - front page and editorials.
hence, i was surprised by the unusually harsh, anti-Congress language of a certain Mr. Sudheerna Kulkarni.
I expect people to have political affiliations, one of my favorite commentators over the years, Tavleen Singh, has always made her dislike for Congress very clearBut Mr. Kulkarni seems to regularly cross the lines with ridiculous partisanship and language unbecoming the main editorial of a national newspaper.

Sample this from today's editorial-
"How a manipulative PM betrayed the Left, forcing it to withdraw support to the UPA Government on July 8, is well known" - This is a favorite tactic of Mr. Kulkarni - Substituting facts with "is well known". Did you know about this? Was the manipulative side of Mr. Singh was so apparent to you all along as it is to Mr. Kulkarni?
The Left betrayed??? It was lucky to have any say in deciding the national politics with 39 seats - leave alone, dictating it for four whole years.

Mr. Kulkarni goes one to expound on the purpose of his editorial - "But the nation must be alerted against a new conspiracy afoot to commit another betrayal." Spare us the alerts Mr. Kulkarni. A lot of us are fairly intelligent to make our own choices. Just give us your analysis, if you're one of those experts.

He goes on to say - "Dr Singh’s government, unsure of its survival, has been desperately trying to stitch together a majority by indulging in the worst kind of horse-trading New Delhi has seen, thereby setting a dangerous precedent in national politics."
Hello? what national precedent is he talking about? Did not a similar horse-trading take place in '99 too? haven't the same criminals who are going to vote in this motion, voted before on issues the Left was an ally with? And is the UPA the only party that is not indulging in horse-trading?

He ends the editorial with an ominous - "The apolitical PM, who has never won a Lok Sabha election, may not care, but his party should know that there is a heavy price to be paid for his wrongdoings in the next parliamentary election, whenever they are held. "

What the hell! Is this an election rally or an editorial?

That led me to investigate the credentials of Mr. Kulkarni and this is what I got: The writer is a former advisor to Mr. Advani (Don't the last lines actually remind you of the man himself) and a ghost-writer of Mr. Vajpeyee's musings, whatever that means.
In short, a BJP man, out and out.

Fair. Whatever your political idealgoy and vested interests, does this man deserve to vent that in such an esteemed national space? A man whose interests are vested much deeper, the venerable Arun Shourie, can still write an editorial based on facts and following the principles of honest and rational analysis.
Mr. Kulkarni, stop thinking about the dangerous precedents in national politics: though I fail to gather what precedents are left that might still be dangerous. MLAs, even Chief Ministers, are indicted for murdering eachother, burning IAS officers, raping minors, and evicted without charge. They spend 100 crores on weddings, known to supply heroines to senior national leaders, indulge in every possible perversion, dishonesty and treachery. Do you really think some horse-trading is going to do irreversible damage?
Think about the precedent you have already set in sub-standard, partisan editorials.

And please, I told you before, stop shitting from your mouth. The good ol' Lord provided quite a wide rear for the same. It's ok to tell your party whips to take their dickie birds out of it sometimes if you have to go and take a dump. If you're too shy about it, this is what becomes of you.

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