We have heard Congress President Sonia Gandhi describing Narendra Modi as the ‘Merchant of Death’ during the 2007 Gujarat Assembly elections. The ‘Maut ka Saudagar’ jibe at the then CM had become a fodder for political pundits and created a lot of buzz in political circles.
However, there is another veteran who made the same remark on the Indian Prime Minister, albeit in a totally different context.
Such was the reference that PM Modi today took Twitter by surprise when he posted a tweet saying: "The feisty Cho Ramaswamy introduces me as the Merchant of Death". The post goes along with a video that features veteran journalist Cho Ramaswamy extending a welcome to Modi at a public function and he wasn’t chiding the then CM.
It is only when you watch the video that you realise that Cho was in fact lauding Modi when he was elected Chief Minister of Gujarat for the third time.
"I now invite... the merchant of death," Ramaswamy said in his introduction, drawing laughter from PM Modi and the audience.
The commentator continued: "...The merchant of death to terrorism, the merchant of death to corruption, the merchant of death to nepotism, merchant of death to official inefficiency, the merchant of death to bureaucratic negligence, the merchant of death to poverty and ignorance, the merchant of death to darkness and despair."
Prime Minsiter also posted a video of his own response.
He said he had been a "fan" of Mr Ramaswamy since the Emergency of 1975-77, when several opposition leaders were jailed by the Congress government of Indira Gandhi.
"I always feel Mr Cho is a true democrat...My friends in Tamil Nadu used to say he is a Rajguru," he said.
"When one gets elected Chief Minister for third time, one will think everything is OK...what do I have to do...let the government do its work...I'll enjoy my period. After hearing Mr Cho, I think for five years again, I can't allow myself to take rest," he commented.
