A Happy New Year of Sycophancy, Madamji
Top Congress leaders periodically murmur about reducing the culture of sycophancy around Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son, youth wing leader Rahul Gandhi. Judging by the front page of the New Delhi edition of the Hindu newspaper on New Year’s Day, they have their work cut out for them.
Instead of displaying the usual worthy headlines, the South Indian daily’s front page was obscured by a full page jacket ad showing Mrs. Gandhi with this text:
“We remain, Madamji, ever at your feet.”
Party officials often use “madam” as respectful shorthand for the Congress leader. In the lower right corner, the ad showed the beaming face of Tamil Nadu Congress politician, H. Vasanthakumar, a former state assemblyman. Mr. Vasanthakumar is also the owner of Vasanth & Co., a popular appliance chain in southern India. He also owns a television channel that was “inaugurated at the golden hands of madam.” Mr. Vasanthakumar was the richest candidate running for re-election in state polls earlier this year, but lost his seat.
The ad alluded to a story from the Hindu epic the Ramayan, about the Lord Ram, who was both an incarnation of god and the ideal ruler. Hanuman, the monkey god, when asked to choose a reward for his years of loyalty when Ram was in exile, before returning to reclaim his kingdom, says, “Let me remain ever at your feet.”
Mr. Vasanthakumar said his ad was inspired by this display of mythic loyalty.
“We are always with the madam for work,” said Mr. Vasanthakumar, who said the ad was taken out by him personally and not by the state Congress committee. “Congress leader is our Soniaji. So we do not want any award or reward. We want only blessings of madam.”
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One reader of the paper criticized Mr. Vasanthakumar for spending his money this way. A regular jacket ad in the Delhi edition costs about 900,000 rupees ($18,000), according to the paper’s advertising department. But Mr. Vasanthakumar said the Delhi ad was a bonus — part of a package of ads he purchased for the Hindu’s southern Indian editions to promote New Year’s sales at his appliance store.
“I don’t have any branch in Delhi,” he said. “I don’t want to waste space. So I am praising madam.”
Mr. Vasanthakumar said he had received some feedback on the ad, in which he helpfully supplied his mobile number. One caller criticized him for the excessive praise, he said. He told the caller he was expressing his individual emotions.
“This is a personal feeling of a man from Tamil Nadu,” he said. “It is my ambition. I am flattering my leader.”
But other callers appreciated the ad, he said. In some cases, the feedback was unclear.
“Some people from other nearby states rang up,” he said. “I have no idea whether they are praising or against. I don’t know Hindi.”
In any case, he said, he was following the example set by Hanuman. “It is not wrong,” he said. ”That is in the history. We are repeating it, that’s all.”
He also said he didn’t feel his praise was excessive, given that in the case of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, his followers compare him to Mahatma Gandhi.
“Each one is praising his own leader,” he said. “Then what is the difference?”
A Happy New Year of Sychophancy for Sonia Gandhi - India Real Time - WSJ
