Why I think the BJP is right in backing Anupam Kher and 'The Accidental Prime Minister'
It is not a matter of debate here whether Dr Manmohan Singh was an 'accidental prime minister' or whether he really wanted to be the prime minister. Manmohan Singh has himself admitted that he was not only an accidental prime minister, but an accidental finance minister as well.
If you were observing the situation carefully during 2013 and 2014, you will know the circumstances that preceded, and succeeded, Dr Singh’s nomination to the most coveted post of Indian democracy.
Those days are long gone. No matter how you look at those events, with or without rose-tinted glasses, you won’t be able to change them. So, let’s agree that is not the point of debate here.
The real reason why the film, The Accidental Prime Minister, suddenly landed in a swirling controversy is because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has cheekily promoted its trailer from its official Twitter handle. The tweet also announced the release date of the film — and questioned whether Dr Manmohan Singh was just a 'regent' when he was the prime minister during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The tweet quickly went viral — and started a snowball effect. Congress leaders vociferously protested against the 'official endorsement' and labelled the film ‘political propaganda’.
Interestingly, a lot of people (including a few prominent right wing Twitter handles) agreed on social media, editorials and TV debates that the BJP shouldn’t have promoted the film from its official Twitter handle. Some said that the party was making it ‘very obvious’, while many others said the tweet was ‘completely unnecessary’. As I scanned through my Twitter timeline last evening, I saw scores and scores of tweets debating the ‘uninvited stamp of recognition’.
This is where I want to humbly put forward my counter-argument, if I may.
And that is — ‘Why not?’
Why can’t a national political party endorse a film if it agrees with the narrative?
Given the current form of the BJP, what were you expecting? That they would sit back and turn their face around as if the film didn’t exist? Were you really expecting the BJP to come out and say they don’t want to endorse the content of the film? Isn’t it a bit ludicrous to expect that the BJP would sit in dignified silence, even though a big Bollywood film is echoing the party’s age-old narrative?
This is a political opportunity — and the BJP has rightly not let it pass by.
The BJP, for decades, has steadfastly held onto the view that Dr Manmohan Singh, as prime minister, was just following the orders of Sonia Gandhi. For decades, the BJP has insisted that unlike the Congress, their party is not run like a 'family fiefdom'. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly refers to Congress president Rahul Gandhi as a 'shahzada' (prince) for the same reason.
So, today, if a film has the same content as the BJP’s narrative, it has done the right thing by saying that it endorses the narrative. Even if the party had kept quiet, the Congress would have claimed the movie was a 'ploy by the BJP' to discredit it. By openly endorsing the film, the BJP has stunned the ppposition into silence. Now, they have nothing substantive to say.
Besides, if the Congress reserves the right to criticise a film, the BJP is well within its rights to promote the same film. This is what you call 'freedom of expression' (FoE) and a political party in India has the same rights of FoE as an individual.
This is an opportunity to put the Congress on the mat before the elections, and the BJP has rightly publicly endorsed the Bollywood film — much to the Congress party’s embarrassment.
Of course, you may argue that this has never happened before in India's history — and you would be utterly wrong. There is huge list of controversial political films in India and many have enjoyed political patronage in some form or the other. Of course, The Accidental Prime Minister may be the biggest among them, given the national commercial release it is getting. So, nobody can take the BJP’s right away from promoting a film if they want to.
I am sorry if you have to deal with that.
Please remember that the BJP’s vocal support to the film doesn’t make it 'political propaganda'.
The script of the film was prepared based on a book of the same name written by Dr Singh’s former media advisor and senior journalist Sanjaya Baru.
Baru is a well-known political commentator and journalist and he has never subscribed to any political party. He has never professed a liking for the BJP either. In fact, Baru has always stayed away from senior BJP leaders.
He was Dr Singh’s media advisor from May 2004 to August 2008. There was nobody as close to Manmohan Singh as Baru — and he has repeatedly said that he wrote the book to defend Dr Singh.
He has also said that he has written only 50 per cent of what he knows because his primary aim was to win sympathy for his former boss. Baru said that he wanted his readers to know that Dr Singh was a victim of his circumstances and hence, he shouldn’t be blamed for the fiascos of the UPA.
If you look at history, you will find strong resonance of Baru’s words. From the coal mine scam to the 2G allocation issue to the chopper deal, there were nine major scams during the nine years of UPA 1 and UPA2. Even though Manmohan Singh is not accused in any, the fact remains that he was the head of state when these happened.
Apart from the scams severely denting the image of the then-government, Manmohan Singh had been labelled the 'silent prime minister'. This was because he was largely quiet when news of these scams broke —even after four years, he is still explaining to the press that ‘he wasn't silent’.
Even the most vocal supporter of Manmohan Singh agrees that he did not assert himself on his party’s top brass the way he was expected to. That is the reason Dr Manmohan Singh still has to bear being called a 'Silent PM', and try to clear that in front of journalists even today.
History hasn't been kind to Dr Singh as a prime minister. This is why the world should know why he acted the way he did when he was the PM of this country for 10 years.
This film might actually exonerate Dr Manmohan Singh from the label of a ‘subservient, silent worker’ and not a leader. If you have had a chance to read Sanjaya Baru’s book, you will know that he has painted a very sympathetic picture of Dr Singh — and presented circumstances where Dr Manmohan Singh actually rebelled against the top order in his own way.
From reportedly refusing to sign on certain directives from 10 Janpath to apparently offering his resignation to Sonia Gandhi as a pressure tactic, Baru has portrayed a leader who was not afraid to speak his mind in private, but was very mindful of his party’s image in public.
There are several articles about how Dr Manmohan Singh was torn between his own convictions, his party’s and his allies’.
But The Accidental Prime Minister is apparently not about that. The film is reportedly about how his authority was continuously challenged from within his own party.
Imagine a most senior BJP party leader’s son storming into a press conference being held by another BJP leader, only to declare that an ordinance endorsed by Prime Minister Modi should be torn up into pieces.
Yes, we can’t imagine this happening during the tenure of Narendra Modi — but this actually happened during the UPA rule in front of the entire media, when Rahul Gandhi walked into a press conference being held by senior Congress leader Ajay Maken.
The rest is His-Story, and you should watch the video for yourself.
Also read: Why Narendra Modi, not Manmohan Singh, is the real accidental Prime Minister