Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest attack on former prime minister, late Rajiv Gandhi, has further degraded the electoral discourse in the ongoing general elections. Modi during an election rally on Sunday stated that Rajiv Gandhi “ended his life as bhrashtachari (corrupt) number one.” Today he further challenged the Congress to “fight polls in the name of the Bofors-accused former PM.” Speaking ill about a dead person who cannot defend themselves is absolutely wrong. It is more shocking considering the fact that Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a brutal terrorist attack.
There is no doubt that Modi is making these controversial statements for political gains. With Punjab and Delhi voting in the last phase of the general elections, he sees an opportunity to target the Congress using Rajiv Gandhi and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. His attacks on the late PM are a well-thought-out strategy to corner the Congress on the Sikh riots and try to polarize the Sikh voters against the grand old party. It may yield him immediate political benefit, but bringing down political discourse to such a low level has the potential to backfire. The prime minister of the country is expected to lead by example and be dignified in their behavior in public. But in the ongoing elections there have been several instances where PM Modi has stooped very low to score political brownie points. It is unfortunate that he is using such language for a person who died a long time ago and has nothing to do with the ongoing elections. Modi should speak about job, economy, farmer distress, etc. These are the issues that concern the people, not what Rajiv Gandhi did in the 1980s.