Has Sushma Swaraj done a Sadhvi with her Gita comment?

We have always been taught about  various nationalised things in our schools. National Anthem, National Song, National Sport, National language, etc have constantly appeared in our tests and exams.

The day BJP, the largest Hindu nationalist party, formed the government at the centre, it was expected that they would aggressively promote Hindutva and its affiliated perspectives. But whosoever be the ruling party, India's Constitution defines it as a secular and democratic country and not a Hindu one.

Recently, Union minister for external affairs Sushma Swaraj's statement "Gita should be made the national scripture of India" raised many eyebrows. The statement is not only demeaning to holy books of other religions, but is also against the basic idea of India as defined in the Constitution.

Sushma Swaraj has been in the BJP for many years and hardly ever been attached to any controversy. Hence, the question arises that why did she speak about something that's not even remotely related to her allocated ministry?

Such a statement from Smriti Irani would have still made some sense, given that she is the HRD minister and responsible for education, but it coming from Sushma has baffled many.

Ever since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, his primary focus has been on foreign policy and showcasing India as an emerging superpower abroad. His foreign trips have largely encompassed enthralling speeches and meeting high level dignitaries as well as famous celebrities in those countries, thereby attracting huge media attention. Never even once,  Modi and his exploits, remained out of the camera's lens. Although external affairs is supposed to be a separate ministry with Sushma being the Union Minister, Modi has literally snatched the ground from her, making her look like a dummy minister who's just there for namesake.

Wherever Modi went, he stole the show and didn't allow anybody else to get even the slightest attention. On the other hand, Sushma made some individual visits apart from accompanying Modi on his trips, but was given extremely less or almost no attention by the media and not much was spoken about her visits and agenda.

With Sushma being sidelined completely in her own ministry and state of affairs allocated to her, she probably felt left out and decided to use the tried and tested method of making a controversial Hindu nationalist statement to get some spotlight on herself. As Modi completely dominated foreign affairs, Sushma's role was, in all likelihood, just left to signing files and giving instructions to juniors.

Given her seniority and stature, she definitely could not use the customary Hindutva success mantra of making a communal statement to get limelight, as her colleague Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti did a few days ago. Therefore, she tweaked the idea a bit and decided to go with something that was not too controversial but is, at the same time, in line with her party's ideological affiliations. Being in the BJP for many years, she also knew that her comment would not draw any criticism from her party members at least, as Gita holds the highest significance in Hinduism.

Additionally, Smriti Irani's rising profile and continued media coverage must have bruised Sushma's ego. Perhaps, Sushma's jealousy at Smriti's rise instigated her to make such a statement.

Her statement found support from Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who added fuel to the fire by saying that Gita is above the Constitution, but the proposal doesn't stand much of a chance for implementation. Whether or not it is implemented, it definitely served the purpose for Sushma, catching the instant attention of internet glitterati.

Though it is highly unlikely that BJP leaders will let go of the Hindutva success mantra to get attention, but Modi seriously needs to actually decentralise the tasks instead of just on paper. He must let his ministers lead the charge in their respective ministries and give then enough work to do, so that they don't get too much free time to think of preposterous ideas and stoke controversies and embarrass him repeatedly.