It so happens in life that many a talented persons go unnoticed, unrecognised but the destiny has been so benevolent to Bhagwant Mann that he shot to celebrity status, on the strength of inborn talent to make people laugh while others of his tribe were not as lucky as him. Son of a school teacher from a small town Sunam in Punjab and blessed with the gift of the gab, he shot to fame as a stand-up comedian and a parliamentarian because he was destined to.
His tryst with fame is still continuing rather more than as a stand-up comedian that he started with thanks to the infamous video compromising the security of Parliament. Even as his party is struggling to overcome the avoidable but real political gaffe over release of its Youth Manifesto showing picture of Harmandir Sahib on its cover, this ace comedian has foolishly enough landed it in yet another avoidable embarrassment. Even ardent apolitical admirers of APP share this observation.
To be fair to him, his performance as a member of the Parliament so far as highlighting the public issues especially pertaining to his home state is concerned has been praiseworthy though back home he had all along been giving his opponents a cause or two to show him and his party in poor light. But this time he seems to have committed a mistake foolish enough to draw flak from supporters and opponents alike. It is a mistake for which he must be now feeling angry with himself. After all mistakes are realised only after they are committed. This time his party too will find it hard to defend him for his act.
Without going into the content analysis of the video in question, it must be shared that how come as a parliamentarian the idea of shooting the video struck him. Was he simply unaware of its grave implications given the prevailing security scenario? If so, then his lack of understanding or plain immaturity is difficult to be condoned. Let him be penalised in accordance with the existing law for such acts but at this stage political bashing should be avoided in the backdrop of his unconditional apology.
It is actually the political fallout of this episode that Bhagwant is being seen as a kind of ‘liability’ to APP which is engaged in a fierce political battle against SAD-BJP combine and the Congress. These rivals have shown unanimity in criticising APP as a party of inexperienced leaders who would create a mess if voted to power in the state. The video act has only served to reinforce this charge which has found supporters within APP as well. Whether this will contribute to turn public opinion against APP or not can, at this stage, only be speculated about.
This video row has once again indicated that Bhagwant is a quintessential stage performer who cannot survive without public attention. Insiders speculate that probably he did so to create a political flutter to grab eyeballs to retain his relevance in the party after the reports of Navjot Sidhu, a more popular celebrity than him, joining APP came in. He could have chosen a politically correct way to highlight the issue he tried to through the video. Probably he forgot that this time he was not a stand-up comedian performing solo but part of a political dispensation that is struggling to prove it is well qualified to govern. Looks like, Bhagwant has not yet learnt properly the distinction between a stand-up comedian and a parliamentarian. Grow up man.
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Raju William, Associate Editor , Babushahi.com
raju.william@gmail.com
Phone No. : +91-9855101121
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