Launching a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, Rahul Gandhi said that the PM is guilty of taking away marital opportunities of a deserving Indian male, Salman Khan and providing it to foreign celebrities. He also alleged that in Modi’s time, only the Ambanis have got married while others left waiting.
“Modi promised that achchhe din would arrive. But how could achchhe din arrive for the biggest Bollywood superstar who is still waiting for a wife,” the scion of Gandhi-family thundered.
“Modiji ne kaha tha, achche din aayenge. Lekin unke raj me Priyanka Chopra ko ek Americi le kar chala gaya, Preity Zinta ki bhi ek Americi se shadi ho gayi. Jabki hamara jawan, Salman Khan abhi tak kunwara baitha huya hain. Why are Indian men, who have proven their ability to provide marital felicity over the last 70 years being ignored in favour of foreign men?” he added.
He also pointed to the marriages in Ambani family as an example of favouritism by the current Indian PM. “Modi ji ke raj me sirf Ambaniyon ke yahan shadiyan hoti hain par Salman Khan se mauke chhine ja rahe hain.”
The Congress Party also announced that they would be holding a special dharna in front of Galaxy Apartments – the residence of Salman Khan and his family – and demanded that a joint parliamentary committee be formed to investigate why Salman was denied a marital contract all these years.
In response, BJP’s national Spokesperson Sambit Patra pointed out that the rejection of Salman Khan by many leading ladies took place in UPA’s time. “The ‘Clown Prince’ doesn’t remember that it was under UPA rule that Salman missed the opportunity to settle down with Katrina. How could we let our betis get old just because Salman is demanding a longer time for settling down? Our first priority was to ensure that husbands are ready for the use of our betis. They had to already face a long delay during UPA tenure,” Patra asserted.
But the Congress Party wasn’t convinced. Their national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala held a press conference to defend his party’s record in facilitation marriages. “Under the Prime Ministership of Shri Manmohan Singh, we saw the marriages of big stars like Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, etc. Our government even managed to get Shri Sanjay Dutt married despite all obstacles. On the other hand, Shri Modi is only interested in the marriage of Ambani family kids.”
Meanwhile, The Hindu newspaper has published a report by N Ram which claims that PM Modi took a direct interest in facilitating the US visa applications of Priyanka Chopra and Preity Zinta, bypassing the foreign ministry. This report further claims that there were no guarantees given by Nick Jonas and Gene Goodenough of ensuring a successful career in America for these Bollywood actresses.
Following this report, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “How did PM Modi allow a precious commodity like a former Miss World to be taken as a wife by a foreign entity. The eligible bachelors of India have been denied opportunity. Chowkidar hi chor hain!”
Republic TV, on the other hand, has been running a video of Renuka Chowdhury – Women and Child Development Minister during UPA 1 – claiming that Indian men are not good husbands. This comment, made during her time in office, has been latched on to by the BJP. “How can any leading actress be expected to marry an Indian Bollywood superstar while such comments are made?” Sambit Patra asked.
Later, the saffron party also alleged that the real reason for the Salman-Katrina agreement breaking down was the refusal of Katrina to enter a secret deal with the first family. The demand from Gandhis, according to the BJP, was that Katrina should find a suitable bride for Rahul, in return for which they would give her and Salman Padma Shri. The grand old party of India has denied these allegations.
This story is getting murkier by the day and allegations are flying fast. However, both Priyanka and Preity have issued a statement saying that they are very happy with their husbands and feel this is the best possible deal they could have got.
Rahul, though, continues to claim that PM Modi is directly guilty of allowing valuable Indian brides to be taken away from this country’s eligible bachelors by foreign individuals. Chowkidar chor hain!, he repeated for the 1400th time.