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'TIRANGA KA APMAN'

-Poonam Sahi

Sonia Gandhi is Among World’s Most Powerful Women: Forbes NEW YORK: The Congress president and UPA Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, is the world’s third most powerful woman after the U.S. National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and Chinese Vice-Premier, Wu Yi, the Forbes magazine said on 20 August. The U.S. First Lady, Laura Bush and Senator, Hillary Clinton, have been placed at the fourth and fifth position by the magazine in the list of 100 most powerful women in the world that includes the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri (8), and the Philippines President, Gloria Arroyo (9). In a brief profile of Smt. Gandhi, the magazine said no other woman in recent times has been more widely revered in India. Smt. Gandhi made headlines in May when, after the party (Congress) she led won India’s democratic elections, she declined to take over the Prime Minister’s seat," it noted.

It is so difficult to understand what exactly the BJP stands for. Are they nationalists, fundamentalists, feminists or plain opportunists. When their Hindutva issue started to run out of steam, they began looking around for new causes. There were no takers for their election war cry of development and ‘feel good’ (torn to shreds in the last election!). Hence, they thought they had a great cause over the national flag issue and the whole nation will back them on it. Maybe you can fool some of the people for sometime, but surely the BJP should know that they cannot fool all of the people all the time. Besides the photographs are self-explanatory. If your party workers are going to use the national flag as a tablecloth or a bedcover the people of India are not going to be terribly excited with their brand of politics.

Look how the BJP exposed themselves over the census report (which of course was rectified the next day – but the damage was done). Besides who needs the BJP to tell us whether there should be more Hindus and less Muslims in the country. Had the observation been, that for the development of any religious group or community and in turn for the development of the nation on the whole, it is more important to concentrate on issues of health, education, social emancipation, women empowerment rather than mere growth in numbers, it probably would have made more sense. But Shri Venkaiah Naidu’s deep concern over the growing numbers of a particular community only shows how narrow, bigoted and disgraceful the BJP views are. And more and more people are beginning to realise that the Congress Party is a party which offers the people of India an option that is modern, progressive, forward looking and all inclusive. It has a vision that takes pride in the rich cultural diversity of our nation and will do everything in its power to keep that secular, tolerant thinking intact. It is the only party that is capable of leading India in the modern day world and allowing India to find a rightful place amongst the top nations of the world. And the faster we spread this message across the country the better it is for this wonderful nation of ours.