Why Robert Vadra should be forgiven

The peril of undeserved celebrity is that those who have come to it via matrimony, do not find it incumbent on themselves to live up to the standards of public decorum.

For that reason alone, I would find Mr Vadra’s behaviour forgivable. That and the law of the land that presumes a person’s innocence unless proven otherwise. That the question he was subjected to was unpleasant and out of place at a Page 3 soiree, the kind Mr Vadra usually attends is understandable. That there was no aggression on the part of the interviewer a twenty-something young journalist who parenthesised his questions with a plaintive "Sir" is evident on the tape. An unpleasant occurrence which could otherwise have been smoothed over in a few minutes, but wasn’t because of an inherent arrogance is the lesson that is most evident from the entire fracas that has now earned its own hashtag on social media.

Intimidation

More disturbing than the pushing away of the microphone (to be fair it was hardly an attack although great television) is the intimidation that followed — the wrongful confinement of the reporter and the cameraman, at the behest of Mr Vadra, caught yet again on tape, ordering his security to delete the recording. In the brouhaha over the incident, this alone is an act of intimidation and violation of free press that should be taken seriously. Nevertheless, that has not happened, as is the way with our news spin cycle that focuses on the sensational and not on what is really wrong.

So an annoyed man pushing away a microphone becomes "bad behaviour" worth a media outrage but the far more serious act of intimidation and wrongful confinement is ignored. But then this is a city where bullying is permissible, even acceptable, but being caught out of step, or not following the rules of public decorum is certainly worth censure in an image conscious Lutyen’s Delhi. After all he is the son in law of the (erstwhile) first family of Indian politics.

Which brings me to the crux of the issue. This hasn’t worked out too well – for either the Congress or Mr Vadra. On the contrary, I would borrow Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow’s break up coinage from earlier this year and, with all the temerity that resides in me as an aam aadmi/aurat, suggest that it is now time for a "conscious uncoupling" between the Congress and Mr Vadra. Each has had to pay for the perceived sins of the other. Mr Vadra — an otherwise affable man from most accounts of golfers at Delhi’s Golf Club — is routinely forced into the limelight for his stupendous, if somewhat dubious, financial success. And the Congress party, always on the back foot, weighed down by corruption and a somnolent term in office, is compelled to rouse itself from its self created stupefaction, to yet again defend the indefensible.

Scrutiny

It’s all very inconvenient. The Congress cannot claim on the one hand, that the Gandhis are always for the people, of the people, and by the people; and yet assert that Mr Vadra is a private person and thus not open to public scrutiny.

Historically, the dynasty’s sons-in-law have been hard to handle. Mr Vadra, for his part, has been mostly laid back: he works out, rides motorcycles and makes the occasional inopportune comment on social media. Yes, his business practices are, shall we say interesting, but then we have agreed that he is innocent until proven guilty. He may have said he can win an election from anywhere in India, but he hasn’t delivered on the threat, or shown an inclination to do so.

There are no Zardari-like political ambitions evident and for that we must be grateful. What is indeed tragic when we speak of Mr Vadra, who now boasts a sort of Clark Gable-esque rogue charm, is that his personal, physical transformation has not endeared him to the masses or the classes.

Ambitions

A general and well entrenched societal unease with the idea of a ghar jamai has overshadowed any personal attributes he might possess. Quite simply, he will never be bigger than the family he married into, to his possible frustration. Even his sartorial choices lead to widespread humour and more amusingly condemnation. Such has been his failed romance with the public.

Let’s be honest here. The only time and place where Mr Vadra is taken seriously is at 9pm on news debates. The BJP his most vociferous critics don’t take him seriously, going by their seeming indifference to demands for investigations into his land deals despite being in power. The journalist who was detained and his employer have refused to file a complaint. Apparently they too do not take him or his behaviour seriously. The Congress defends him in public but in private with a nudge and a wink suggest they don’t take him seriously. In fact even the PILs are not taken seriously and dismissed by the courts. So it is indeed a legitimate query and not arrogance when Mr Vadra asks not once but four times "Are you serious?"