The patholigical hate ridden Sanghis simply cannot put up fight fair, it seems. Ever since, the united opposition (18parties) nominated Gopal Krishna Gandhi as their consensus candidate for the post of Vice President, they have resorted to what they do best: launch a viciou campaign online. Bereft of anything else against him, the campaign says his “only ‘credentials’ are that he filed mercy petition for terrorist Yakub Memon”.
Gandhi’s reply was staunchly Gandhian. He jogged the sanghis non-existent historical memory and said that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s sons Mani Lal Gandhi and Ramdas Gandhi had appealed against the death sentence handed to Nathuram Godse who assassinated the Mahatma. And their plea for clemency had been not just for Godse. The sons had also pleaded for mercy for Narayan Apte, who was present at the spot when Godse pulled the trigger. In spite of the appeals, both Godse and Apte were hanged in 1949.
‘My appeal for mercy for any death row convict arises out of my conviction against reprisal punishment and is not confined to any individual. I believe that the death penalty and capital punishment belong to the medieval ages.” Gopaljrishna Gandhi retorted.
But then the medieval ages is where rabid communalist forces get their politics from: revenge-lust, blood and gore.
Gopalkrishna added: “That is my belief and as an ordinary independent person, it is my duty to say so. I have inspiration from two persons — Mahatma Gandhi, who was against the death penalty, and Babasaheb Ambedkar, who had said it is only proper that we should do away with the death penalty altogether.” Gopalkrishna, a former Bengal governor, said that as an “ordinary independent citizen”, he had reminded the Pakistan President that it was his responsibility to ensure that former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was not sent to the gallows. A military court in Pakistan has sentenced Jadhav to death on charges of espionage and terrorism.
It was Rajiv Chandrasekhar, the Kerala NDA’s vice-chairperson, had written on the micro-blogging site: “Filing a mercy petition for someone who was convicted for mass murder is a campaign theme to be Vice-President?” Chandrashekhar is the controlling financier of Arnav Goswami’s Republic.
Stung by the decision of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik who, on July 18, announced support for Gopalkrishna, the BJP state unit president Basant Panda too had joined the bandwagon: “Gandhi had signed the mercy plea of terror convict Yakub Memon. It certainly raises questions on Naveen’s patriotism. It also shows that there is a tacit understanding between the BJD and the Congress.” Politically, Gopalkrishna appeared to have mustered more support than Meira Kumar, the Opposition’s candidate for President, with Naveen joining Nitish Kumar’s JDU in breaking the collective the BJP had built for yesterday’s presidential election.
Both Naveen and Nitish Kumar have announced that the BJD and JD(U) would support Gopalkrishna around the time he was filing his nomination. In 2012, Naveen had said Gopalkrishna was his “best friend”.
Gopalkrishna said he was an independent-minded individual with no political affiliation who had agreed to be the Opposition’s candidate as a representative of the average Indian citizen. “I am not here to oppose any individual or political party. I am here to place before the electors the aspirations of the common man…. I am here not to oppose but to unite… the integrated intelligence of our Parliament.”
Gopalkrishna said he hoped to flag three issues — restoring the faith of the common man in politics, underlining the need to stand up to divisive politics that could imperil the Indian civilisation and addressing the despondency that is setting in on under-25-year-olds who make up half of India’s population.
While stating that people’s faith in politics had “collapsed”, Gopalkrishna made it clear he had in mind not just those opposed to his candidature but also those supporting him.
Gopalkrishna himself plans to write to each and every member of the electorate — made up of members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — seeking a conscience vote, something Meira Kumar had also done. The Opposition plans to make a video of his letter for wider circulation in the hope of mobilising opinion in his favour strong enough to weigh on the electorate.
The Trinamul Congress today purchased 1,000 postcards after Gopalkrishna said he would mail one to each MP, highlighting some issues he wants to raise through his candidature. The idea of sending a postcard to each MP was Gopalkrishna’s, a Trinamul MP said.