Five reasons why Robert Vadra is serious
On October 8 in Mahad, launching his campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi called Narendra Modi an opposition leader, saying: "An opposition leader says nothing happened in the last 60 years. Their thinking is that only one man can take the country forward.'' On November 1, his brother-in-law Robert Vadra asked an ANI reporter four times whether he was serious in asking him a question about allegations of windfall gains in land deals and then smacked the mike away. Clearly, the brothers-in-law have not got the memo. The government has changed and Congress is no longer in power. The media will naturally feel emboldened to ask questions that have nothing to do with Vadra's pet obsessions: fitness and motorbikes. And they will naturally feel free to accost him in a five star hotel and ask him uncomfortable questions.
The surprising thing though is that Vadra believes he can get away with the old rich Delhi boy's ultimate weapon: "jaante nahin main kaun hoon".
There can be only five rational explanations for Vadra's behaviour:
#1. Like Rahul, he hasn't got the memo: Nobody has told him the BJP won the elections. Given his circle of friends (mostly from his days at British School) who are mostly in awe of the family he has married into, they probably haven't dared to break the news to him. And his brother-in-law, who has mostly been missing in action since losing the general elections, is confused himself.
#2. Delhi still hasn't felt the full impact of the power shift: The establishment hasn't really changed simply because the old elites haven't been replaced by a new Most Favoured Class. Modi still remains an outsider, he has no family which can be sought out by the permanent movers and shakers, and the only consummate Delhi Durbar insider in the BJP, Arun Jaitley, has always had cordial relations across party lines. Vadra still believes it's business as usual.
#3. He is genuinely surprised he is being expected to answer a serious question: When Vadra asks the reporter, Are you nuts?, he means it. Ask him about what he is wearing, what car he is driving, his exercise regimen, but anything involving politics? Nah. "What's wrong with you?" he asks in genuine befuddlement.
#4. It's not the question, it's the questioner: Like everyone associated with the Congress party or Gandhi family, he knows there is only one person to answer to, the occupant of 10 Janpath. Which explains Vadra's subsequent comment: "'And you're the right person to answer to?"'
#5. He can't help himself: All posh or at least semi posh Dilli boys have a sense of entitlement. Jaante nahin main kaun hoon or Jaante nahin mera baap kaun hai or Jaante nahin mera mai-baap kaun hai are variations of this culture of privilege, reinforced by life in a bubble, surrounded by SPG protection. "Delete karao" is the android version of this phrase. It shows a hopelessly out of touch public figure (no, Digvijaya Singhji, he cannot be considered a private person). But then is it a surprise? This, after all, is the same person who posted pictures disguised as a supermodel on his facebook profile, and asked famously when first faced with allegations of a real estate windfall in 2012: Is India a banana republic of mango people? This, when his mother-in-law's party was in power, having been democratically elected by the people of India.
Are we serious in expecting Vadra to behave any other way?