Sunday, June 21, 2009

Varun in a soup

The forensic evidence is in and the verdict is out. Varun Gandhi, the lesser known and now popular grandson of Indira Gandhi, indeed made that hate speech in Barekhera and Lalauribagh in early March. Incredible. That must have been some accomplishment for those against him in this case. For someone who's made a speech in front of thousands of people as a part of canvassing for Lok Sabha elections and captured on tape by tv reporters, it takes months to prove that the voice was indeed his.

To add drama to the episode, Varun is now claiming that the audio tapes have been completely doctored. But allegedly he had refused to give voice samples for examination. I don't get it. If you are convinced that it's a plot against you, why would you not be cooperate with the law. Varun has vehemently denied making the speech saying it was a political conspiracy. In fact he said the speech was "mangled" and he sounds like Amitabh Bachchan in it, where as in reality he has a soft voice. He's out on bail currently with six FIRs against him.

Mommy darling seems to be pretty upset too. She is pulling names out of her kitty, chosen names from the BJP party, and asking them to not make Varun a scapegoat. She's asking them to not blame BJP’s defeat on son's speeches. This one is completely devoid of logic. If good speeches can work favorably for you in elections, don't bad (and disastrous in this case) speeches have an adverse effect?

Let’s talk about the speech in question for a second. Original or doctored, the video that was repeatedly played on news channels and websites, showed him denigrating Muslims to a rather great extent. The interesting part was that the video was super low resolution and it seriously doesn't sound like him if you ask me. He said things about cutting off hands of antisocial elements, per Gita. Later, he insisted that his statements were strong but far from being communal. But one funny dialogue from that 'doctored' video cracked me up. "America couldn't get Osama, but Varun Gandhi will catch many after the elections." referring to a bearded Muslim rival candidate.

All the Nehrus-Gandhis have steered cleared of communal politics and always had a rep of being secular. The lethal statements are therefore a shocker. Me being a BJP gal, this is rather sad to hear. What's heartbreaking is that he's getting no love from his own fam. Priyanka has gone on record criticizing Varun, not once suggesting that it could be a conspiracy. What is true, only those involved know.

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