If there is one question that stares in the face of every right-minded person it is: What is wrong with them? The “them” has two players: one in the USA and one in India: a president of a country and de-facto president of a political party: Donald Trump and Rahul Gandhi, respectively.
So let us begin with US President Trump.
He set a conciliatory note by effusively praising India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi: a thaw in the tie that had taken a hit last year after Trump slapped heavy tariffs on India. The same year, Trump was set to visit India, but tensions sparked and the visit stood cancelled.
Tariffs apart, tensions escalated due to other factors, including the ceasefire between India and Pakistan post-Operation Sindoor with Trump taking credit for stopping the war between the two countries. India’s statement that there was no third-party mediation irked Trump which further led to the distancing between India and the US.
Add to that India’s bloc with Brazil and China denting the bonhomie Trump and Modi had displayed in the past.
However, when Trump and Modi met recently, on the sidelines of G7 Summit in France, the relationship seemed to have undergone a dramatic change. Trump stated that he would be “going to India sometimes in the future”. If the visit materializes, this would be Trump’s first visit to India in his second term.
For record, Trump had visited India way back in 2020. At that point in time, he was accorded a warm welcome with Namaste Trump banners displayed all over.
The India-visit apart, what stood out was Trump’s praise for the Indian prime minister. Downplaying tensions, Trump said that as long as he was president, “India would have a great friend in the White House”.
He also called Prime Minister Modi: a great leader, a very tough guy, a handsome man, very solid, and so on and so forth. More significantly, Trump said that he is committed to defending India if it is attacked. “If anybody attacks that man, we’re going to be there now,” declared Trump in a clear reference to Modi.
If this is good news for India, and Trump was at its best expressing solidarity with Modi and India in that order, he was a complete embarrassment as far as US ally Italy is concerned. And it is here that the “what’s wrong with him” question pops up.
Rewind to G7 yet again and one finds Trump denigrating the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” he said.
If reports are anything to go by, Meloni had at the G7 meeting told Trump to stop crying foul on grounds that the Western allies had abandoned the US. If Trump saw this as a snub and the Italian prime minister standing up to him, then his photo-begging jibe fits in. Having said that, there is no justification for Trump’s stinging remark. If anything, it calls for condemnation.
Not the one to let go, Meloni and Italy hit back. Leading the attack, Meloni said: “Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up. I am frankly astonished. I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies: it is not the first time. There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
Her government went a step ahead and Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani cancelled his proposed visit to the US underscoring the anger of the government at Trump’s comment.
It may be recalled that Meloni was once a vocal supporter of Trump. She was the only European leader to attend his inauguration in 2025.
However, she criticised Trump earlier this year for lashing out at Pope Leo over his condemnation of the Iran conflict.
That in turn prompted a blunt rebuke from the US president, who accused her of lacking courage.
But back to Trump’s jibe, even if Meloni did seek to be photographed with Trump, how could he use such disparaging language against a head of government? Does scoring a point or hitting back like Trump is prone to, akin to hitting below the belt? Shouldn’t the president of the world’s most powerful country measure his words? Does it behove Trump to make personal comments and insult world leaders? The answer is a big NO, in caps, so to speak.
Back home, another drama played out: that of demeaning gods as devotees would wish us to believe. The context: Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s 56th birthday celebrations.
Expectedly, Congressmen got into the act and used religion to pay obeisance to a self-proclaimed secular leader. Youth Congress leaders mounted Gandhi’s picture and worshipped it by pouring milk over the portrait. Worse still, Gandhi was depicted as Lord Parshuram with an axe in one hand and a copy of the Constitution in another: Religion and politics entwined so to speak.
For record, Parshuram was an avatar of Lord Vishnu and described as a sage-warrior. He received his axe, or the Parashu, from Lord Shiva. He is known for his expertise in martial arts and weapons. In the epic Mahabharata, he had mentored Bhishma, Drona and Karna, among others.
Politically, in the 2024 general elections Gandhi had used the Constitution of India to the hilt alleging that were the BJP voted in, they would alter and rewrite the Constitution. The pocket edition of the Constitution that Gandhi carried with him everywhere became a symbol of resistance and it worked. The BJP despite its “400 paar” spiel failed to get a majority in the Lok Sabha.
That notwithstanding, the knives are out. Gandhi being depicted as god has led to a firestorm. If BJP’s Shehzad Poonawalla alleged that the Congress was “insulting Hindu faith”, his colleagues said that the Congress had insulted Lord Parshuram. On his part, Poonawalla demanded an apology from the Congress for hurting the sentiments of crores of Hindus. “Abuse Hindus and get applause from the vote bank – that has been their politics,” he posted on X.
Irrespective, what the Congress did was completely unbecoming of a seasoned political party, particularly one that claims secularism is its USP.
Political slugfest apart, the Parshuram portrayal goes beyond religion or devotee sentiment. Neither is it about the gods or divinity. This is about the direction our political parties are taking while setting dangerous precedents.
The BJP started it by wooing Hindus through the politics of Ram and the temple in Ayodhya. It succeeded even while creating divisions in the society and unleashing the poison of communalism. Today, even as Hindus and Muslims live together in India, they are baying for each other’s blood: something Gandhi has often spoken about. Remember his “mohabbat ki dukan” spiel that went viral?
For record, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, or unite India journey, when Gandhi had traversed from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, his catchline was: Nafrat ke bazar mein Mohabbat ki dukan khol raha hoon (in this atmosphere of hatred I am opening a shop of love). Even as this went viral, it was clearly a hit out at BJP’s divisive and communal politics. It was also to expose and condemn BJP for using religion for electoral gain.
Therefore, when the Congress, the party Gandhi steers, projects him as a god and performs rituals over his picture, he should be the first to put a stop to such acts. By turning a blind eye to his party elevating him to the status of a god is contrary to what Gandhi has been professing all along. Or hammering the BJP on.
Endorsement of such acts only blunts the attack on the saffron party. It also demonstrates that the Congress can take a U turn for electoral gain and bring in religion as and when necessary.
The Gandhi-Parshuram imagery is just one case in point. Gandhi has in the past done temple runs, including the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, that the Congress had flagged as proof of his Hindu faith. The party had publicly declared that Gandhi is “not only a Hindu, but a janeudhari Hindu” or the one who wears the sacred thread. And this did not stop here. To substantiate the claim, the party released photographs showing Gandhi sporting a janeu while offering prayers.
Hence the “what’s wrong with them” question. This is relevant because the need of the hour is to rise above religion and its symbolism and give the country a constructive agenda rather than waste time in projecting leaders as gods.
—The writer is an author, journalist and political commentator
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