New Delhi : The BJP on Thursday lashed out at eminent scientist PM Bhargava for announcing the return of his Padma Bhushan against what he called the growing trend of theocratic tendencies and the threat to democracy in the future. Answering queries in Patna, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley slammed Bhargava for ‘political patronage’ and reiterated his earlier argument that this was noth- ing but ‘manufactured rebellion’. Terming the returning of awards by writers, artists and now the scientist as a ‘rabid anti-BJP’ move, Jaitley questioned, ‘‘where was he when this country was rocked by corruption scams and looted…?’’
Party spokesman GVL Narasimha Rao followed up the attack by alleging that Bhargava was a ‘‘beneficiary of the Congress-era emergency excesses and a habitual protester against the BJP.’’ To prove his point, Rao said Bhargava enjoyed the posts of Vice Chairman of National Knowledge Commission and member of the Security Advisory Board during the UPA regime. The BJP has called him a habitual protester who was a signatory to the letter of solidarity with Greenpeace signed by 182 persons earlier this year. ‘‘The list is a who’s who of ‘Hate Modi’ and comprises most of the cheerleaders of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council.’’ The party has claimed that many of these persons had also gone to Varanasi to campaign against Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls.
The bandwagon of artists, writers, filmmakers and intellectuals protesting against the ‘growing intolerance’ in the country and blaming the Modi government for the ‘hate atmosphere’ has been growing steadily leading to sharp retorts from the BJP leadership. While the PM has largely avoided any direct comments, finance and Information & Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley has been trying to defend the party and government by terming the protests as essentially political and biased.
