Shoegate Menace

There is a new wave of rebellion or revolt going on in the political circle this election. It is all to do with the shoes. Made famous by the Iraqi journalists missile aimed at George "Dubya" Bush, this weapon has been picked up by the Indian common man this election.

Initially it was the journalist Jarnail Singh who aimed it at Mr Chidambaram, when he tried to avoid questions regarding a certain Sonia Gandhi loyalist ex-minister being given a clean chit in a case which has been dragged on for a silver jubilee celebration.

Then followed a series of shoes thrown at various persons as this mania gripped and spread more crazily than avian flu, targets being Navin Jindal, Jeetendra, Advani and the PM Manmohan Singh too. And with the last incident and the admission of the missile thrower that he did it for his 5 minutes of fame, the thing which I was fearing has come out to forefront.

Anyone can now throw a shoe at some prominent personality knowing fully well that he will be given air time in varying amounts by the various channels. While CNN-IBN might have a fleeting minute dedicated to you, Aaj Tak might have a full hour or two dedicated to you, where the 5 second act of yours would be played in a loop, pausing at different moments to discuss the various technical and aesthetic aspects of your throw.

Now add to it, the crazy politicians from the grand old party of India who are acting more delirious than any human being as old as their party, if alive, would act. If only they could think a Milli-second as to what they are talking before it comes out of their mouth it would have been better for them. Asking the chief minister of a state to apologize because someone threw a shoe at someone else, just because it happened in his state is more a reflection of the dearth of issues for the party on which to fight for during the election.

And this is not the only stupid thing which has come out of the grand old party of India. One ex-chief minister of a particular state from the northern tip of India comes all the way down to the southern part of India for campaigning and gives a statement telling that the government in that state is not favoring the backward castes and if they are favoring, let the chief minister resign and make someone from the backward caste the chief minister. Excuse me mister ex-chief minister of a sensitive state, did u do that when you were a chief minister. Will your party do the same if it comes to power in the center???

In all the craziness surrounding the elections and the stupid and the confusing statements given by the grand old party members and the pseudo-secularist behavior of all so called "secular" parties, it is appalling to see the voter turnouts in the second round of polling. I for myself saw a person who came to the booth and went to the presiding officer telling her that his office would give him a holiday if he had voted and since he is going out of station for enjoying the holiday he doesn't have time to vote and just put on the mark on his index finger. Thank God, the presiding officer was adamant and asked him to stand in the queue for that also. But it shows the apparent lack of concern regarding the country present in a section of the people. God help them and more so God help India from the Pseudo-Secularists