- There are total 52 schemes on the name of Rajiv or Indira Gandhi. All together, there are total 445 projects, schemes, sports trophies, ports, stadiums, airports, universities and educational institutes on the name of Rajiv Gandhi.
- You must remember an unforgettable quote of Shakespeare. Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. On one end, there is Modi. Narendra Modi has achieved greatness somehow, but greatness is thrust upon Sonia Gandhi.
- There is an aphorism in the epic of Greek poet Homer. Nothing in the world is so incontinent as a man’s appetite for wealth, fame & power. This hunger is a cursed hunger.
- Is Sonia Gandhi a proprietress of such a cursed hunger? Is she really a sphinx or a dumb doll? Or is she a proud woman saving others from the fascination of wealth & power? Jason Overdorf, a journalist, has written that if there is any ‘Most Interesting Character’ in the Indian Politics, it is Sonia Gandhi.
- This is the worst epithet by a responsible journalist. What is intriguing? Concocted, conspiratorial, fraudulent, plotter and fascinating. These are not my words. You may interpret as you wish. In 1991, the power befallen on Sonia after Rajiv’s assassination and she had excellently learned to cling like a leech to such imposed power.
- Even then, power greedy Congresses were considering Sonia, a slightly new to the intrigues of congresses, a neophyte means a novice or an inexperienced woman, but Sonia already learnt a lot more than other Congresses. She was getting power from all around. There was no limit to the power. Moreover, she had ace of spades alias piles of indirect money with her. Even today also, Mulayam Singh, Nitish Kumar of Bihar and some other leaders of Janata Dal compete to be ducky to Soina.
- At a glance, Sonia has automatically become the empress of innumerable funds and trusts which were on the name of Rajiv Gandhi. She has become chairwoman of the Nehru Memorial Fund, Indira Gandhi Memorial Fund, Kamla Nehru Trust, Swaraj Bhavan Trust, Rajiv Gandhi Family Trust, etc. etc. There were and are so many schemes and projects on the name of Rajiv Gandhi that you would be confused whether to smile or sob.
- If I write down the complete list, the whole ‘Divya Bhaskar’ may be filled. Funds are allocated from every central budget to all the trusts, funds or projects named after Rajiv Gandhi and the stupid or ignorant members of the BJP remain seated quietly. Let me give you some examples. Well, there are a dozen of schemes and projects on the name of Rajiv, Indira, etc. State Government Schemes on the name of Rajiv and Indira are total 52. All together, there are total 445 projects, schemes, sports trophies, ports, stadiums, airports, universities and educational institutes on the name of Rajiv Gandhi.
- Names of Rajiv and Nehru are attached with en number of awards, scholarships, fellowships, national park & wild life sanctuaries, hospitals, medical institutes, festivals and some very ordinary things also. Rajiv Chowk, Rajiv Bhavan at Safdarjung, Rajiv Handicraft Bhavan, Rajiv Park, Indira Chowk, Nehru Planetarium, Jawhar Nehru Government House, etc. in Delhi; Rajiv Chowk at Andheri, Indira Nagar, Nehru Nagar, etc. in Mumbari; Rajiv Memorial Hall in Chennai; Rajiv Education City in Hariyana. The height of butter polishing Sonia is that Congresses have named one of the Himalayan peaks as ‘Mount Rajiv’. There is an Info Tech City on the name of Rajiv Gandhi in Goa. There are Rajiv Nagar in Chennai, Coimbatore and Trichy. There is a Rajiv Gandhi Info Tech Park in Pune. There are Rajiv Panchayat Bhavans at Palanpur in Banaskantha. The Congressi Finance Minister has shamelessly given 50% exemption in Income Tax to those who allocate money into Rajiv Fund.
- There are so much projects on the name of these Rajiv, Indira, Nehru, etc. that fingers of the compositors of ‘Divya Bhaskar’ may get pain. I again remember the title of the book by American writer, Robert Skidelsky, ‘How much is enough?’. Soniyaji, how many trusts, funds and memorials? Now Rajiv Toilet Houses or Rajiv Urinals are only left in Delhi, but this is not a matter of joke.
- Rs. 28,000 crores were allocated in the budget to the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme and then Rs. 5500 crores were sanctioned in 2009. Rs. 7500 crores are given annually for Rajiv National Drinking Water Mission. By now, crores of rupees have been allotted from the budget to the Indira Aawas Yojana. Billions of rupees are allocated to the Old Age Pension Scheme and other half a dozen schemes named after Indira Gandhi.
- Soniaji is chairperson of so many trusts and funds that you may be wondered. You must remember that from the budget of 1991, which had deficit of Rs.7700 crores and additional taxes of Rs. 2300 crores, the Congress Government had shamelessly allocated Rs. 100 crores at a stretch to the Family Trust on the name of Rajiv Gandhi.
- But fortunately, at last, Sonia constrainedly cancelled the allocation, but the saying, ‘One cannot hide one’s deeds by applying ash’, fits Sonia and Congress in many ways, but ultimately when will it be ‘enough is enough’?
- Kanti Bhatt
Note : Original article is published in Gujarati language in the local daily Duvya Bhaskar.
