About public service and private profit

The BJP's message is that since the past can't be checked, it must be reinvented as creatively as imagination allows

Since West Bengal’s governor is a scholar with evidence of Ram’s historical existence, he may also have heard of Oscar Wilde. He may even be aware of the Wildean bon mot, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” whose less-quoted conclusion is “that mediocrity can pay to greatness”. Not that Jagdeep Dhankhar would dream of demeaning himself as “mediocrity”. But, undoubtedly, he reveres Narendra Modi as “greatness” epitomised, and repeats – perhaps even tries to improve upon -- the Prime Minister’s brave assertions about the mythic achievements of ancient Hindus. 

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) loyalists are most stridently devoted in states