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By Pankaj Vohra

By arresting him while he was about to depart for the plenary session of his party at Raipur, the Assam Police have evidently helped Pawan Khera, Chairman of Media and Publicity Cell of the Congress, to enhance his political stature within his own organization.
The drama that happened at the Indira Gandhi Airport on Thursday morning could have been easily avoided if the authorities would have handled the matter with caution and care. Instead, Khera, who was once the political secretary to former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, hogged the limelight on virtually all TV channels, and must have had the last laugh when the Supreme Court provided him temporary relief by ordering that he should be released on interim bail.
Khera is an ambitious Congress functionary and in order to endear himself to his high command, has often crossed the red line while taking on the BJP and its senior leaders. It is another matter that this red line has been crossed by the BJP leadership as well and they too are guilty of vitiating the political atmosphere on multiple occasions. The current episode has several dimensions to it. Khera, during an interaction with the media some days ago, while trying to establish a connection between industrialist Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had committed an error. He had referred to the Prime Minister as Narendra Gautam Das Modi to only correct himself by stating Narendra Damodardas Modi.

The BJP was quick to pounce on him and claimed that he had deliberately tried to insult the Prime Minister and his father, while the Congress maintained that it was a serious slip of the tongue and Khera had apologized for his mistake. Like in the Congress, the BJP also has leaders who wish to always do something which in their estimation would please their high command.
In this instance, FIRs against Khera were registered both in Assam and Uttar Pradesh to begin with and he was charged under serious sections of the Indian Penal Code for attempting to create hatred between two different groups as well as for defamation with an intention of inciting passions that could disrupt peace and harmony. However, an Assam police party arrived in the national capital and made Khera get off the aircraft before arresting him.
Congress colleagues on the same flight vehemently protested and subsequently brought this matter to the notice of the Apex Court, which after hearing the arguments, decided to direct the local court to grant an interim bail to Khera.

The arrest and the subsequent developments have made Khera a central character even though he has tendered an unconditional apology and what happened on Thursday appears to have overshadowed to some degree, the importance of the Congress Plenary where several crucial decisions are likely to be taken over the weekend.
Khera, who had last year openly expressed his disappointment over not being considered for a Rajya Sabha berth by the high command and had stated, his efforts to serve the party were apparently not adequate, is certainly going to now use this episode to go further up the ladder. His political journey or experience is largely when he was with Sheila Dikshit and he was one person on whom she relied heavily.

He has since then risen in the organization and is considered close to the Gandhis even though he has powerful enemies in the Congress who would like to thwart his journey if they get a chance. He must foremost adhere to the advice of the Apex Court and should remain discreet even if he has to perform the role of the party spokesman. There are certain things which can be said effectively without using harsh words against the opponents.
Modi has a huge following both in his party and the country and therefore any attack on him would always have a retaliation. In this instance, two state governments may have reacted in the manner which they deemed fit but have not helped the Prime Minister in any manner. A better way of dealing with Khera and his remarks would have been on debates on TV channels or through write ups.
The Assam police obviously was under orders but they have returned with no success. If they had to arrest the Congress functionary, they should have done so before he boarded the plane or after he got down at Raipur. This action has certainly not shown the force in any good light either.
Khera has a very big network within and outside the party and knows how to use his strength to move forward. At one point of time, he was extremely close to an industrialist who is amongst those criticized frequently by Rahul Gandhi. He is also aware of the cordial equation Dikshit had with some BJP leaders during the NDA and UPA regimes and has witnessed many political events from close quarters.
Khera has a deep understanding of politics but on many occasions as what happened recently, he gets carried away and loses sight of discretion. BJP has many effective and good spokespersons who could have countered his claims and assertions very easily. The matter is now before the Apex Court and under the purview of law, which alone would determine the correctness of Khera’s actions and utterances.
Although Khera was in the limelight throughout Thursday, the focus must shift on to Raipur and the declarations which are likely to be made there by the party’s new high command. Between us.

(Courtesy: The Sunday Guardian, New Delhi edition)