How Mahesh Sharma, VK Singh are embarrassing Modi

Sometimes it's hard to guess who is more irresponsible. Ministers in the Modi government or fringe characters, who the party top bosses disown from time to time, as per their convenience.

The party and the government always try to distance themselves, and fairly so, from the controversial statements made by fringe elements like Sadhvi Prachi, Yogi Adityanath, et al. They also advise the media, their pet peeve, to make the distinction between party and fringe outfits like Bajrang Dal or VHP.

But what about their own MPs and ministers who needlessly traverse the path one shouldn't travel? The tragedy for the Modi government is that forget the fringe, it's own MPs and ministers are running away from the narrative of development which the PM is so assiduously trying to build.

The two ministers who have now a proven track record in creating controversy where none exists, are General VK Singh and Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma. The general may be out of army but he is constantly at war, imaginary or real, with the world. The recent episode which saw the general's "deft" handling of a situation is the ongoing attack on African students in India. 

Singh, minister of state for external affairs, had a detailed meeting with the Delhi Police, and cracked down on the real culprit behind the attacks on African students - the Indian media. I guess even the Delhi police must have been taken by surprise at the ease with which the minister believed their version of how this is just a "minor scuffle" and how the media is blowing it out of proportion and why it is doing so.

So the solution to such frequent attacks on African nationals is that the media stops reporting them. The problem will cease to exist. QED.

Now contrast this with the response of senior BJP leader and Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. With the alacrity and compassion, which this situation requires, she swung into action following reports of an attack on six African nationals in South Delhi on May 26. She deputed VK Singh and secretary Amar Sinha to talk to students who have announced demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.

She also spoke to home minister Rajnath Singh, who in turn assured swift action apart from the launch of a sensitisation programme in areas where African nationals reside. The death of the Congolese student on May 20, allegedly a racist attack, too was handled with dexterity the situation demanded.

Swaraj was quick to respond - apart from talking to home minister, she deputed VK Singh and secretary Amar Sinha to talk to envoys of African countries who had threatened to boycott the Africa Day celebrations of the Indian government.

When it comes to controversy, VK Singh is not alone. If there is a controversy, can cultural minister Mahesh Sharma be left far behind? When reports of the Congolese student being beaten to death were blowing into an international embarrassment for India, Mahesh Sharma couldn't resist from making yet another controversial statement.

He described the killing of the student as "unfortunate", but added in the same vein that even Africa is not safe. This statement triggered an unnecessary controversy for the government, when all that was required was tactful handling of the situation.

This is not the only time when the ministers had courted controversies to embarrass the government. Of recent vintage was a demand by VK Singh to rename Akbar road in Lutyen's Delhi as Maharana Pratap road.

This demand received support from quarters that the government routinely dismisses as fringe, but it led to furore from all corners and the government was on the back foot. Urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu dismissed the whole issue saying, "It's not on my agenda. My priority is to make cities a better place and to provide good governance".

Apart from these instances, VK Singh's run in with media and the term "presstitute" is too well known.

Singh's colleague Mahesh Sharma, however, is giving him a tough competition when it comes to controversy.

Remember his "APJ Abdul Kalam is a great nationalist despite being Muslim" comment or statements made following the Dadri lynching incident, which were clearly unbecoming of the minister.

So one of the challenges for the government now is to rein in such ministers and make sure that at least in situations which have international ramifications, there is a unified response and not a consequence where a junior minister uses the opportunity to have another go at his favourite target.