A week is a long time in politics, especially if you are a dead Congressman.
On May 21, the 20th death anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, various ministries, departments and State governments unleashed an advertising blitzkrieg in the media.
Result: 69 ads totalling 41 pages in 12 newspapers.
Today, on the 47th anniversary of the death of his grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, the sycophancy deficit is palpable: Just 24 ads amounting to 10¾ published pages in the the same 12 newspapers surveyed last week.
Meaning: India’s first and longest-serving prime minister gets 45 fewer ads (amounting to 30¼ pages) than his grandson who was in office for five years against Nehru’s 17.
Hindustan Times: 22-page issue; 4 JN ads amounting to 1¾ broadsheet pages
The Times of India: 30-page issue; 3 ads amounting to 1¼ broadsheet pages
Indian Express: 20-page issue; 5 ads amounting to 2 broadsheet pages
Mail Today (compact): 42-page issue; 4 ads amounting to 2 compact pages
The Hindu: 20-page issue; 3 ads amounting to 1¾ broadsheet pages
The Pioneer: 16-page issue; 3 ads amounting to 1 broadsheet page
The Statesman: 16-page isuse; 1 ad amounting to half a broadsheet page
The Telegraph: 16-page issue; 1 ad amounting to half a broadsheet page
***
The Economic Times: 32-page issue; 0 ads
Business Standard: 20-page issue; 1 ad amouning to half a broadsheet page
Financial Express: 24-page issue; 0 ads
Mint (Berliner): 32-page issue; 0 ads
Also, unlike dozen or so ministries and departments that were falling over each other to remind the nation of Rajiv Gandhi last week, just four ministries—information and broadcasting, women and child welfare, steel and power—and one State government (Delhi) seem to have taken up Nehru’s cause.
Also read: Rajiv Gandhi: 69 ads over 41 pages in 12 newspapers
churumuri 
It will be interesting to note how many ads appear in the newspaper when the UPA led by Congress party is not in power.
During the years that the NDA was in power, we really didn’t see so many ads. Then we used to have ads related to NDA icons…
In India, “number of obsequious ads in newspapers” is directly proportional to the political power that the relatives and friends of any august person wield…
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Chacha Nehru and Henry Kissinger have something in common – both have a huge amount of blood on their hands and both are revered as great statesmen and leaders.
I truly, honestly would have loved to live in an India where Nehru and his successors were never born. “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely” – the most apt statement about that family.
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@Jagadish – they had one more thing in common. Both had very long noses :) and would love to poke it everywhere.
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Today the nation remembered former Prime Minister Charan Singh. Did you remember to count the ads ;)
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The current descendent of the same “SONIA JI” promises “ZERO tolerance to corruption” and bring all Indian money in swiss bank, with her swiss-account balance accounting for around more than a million dollar.
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Dynastic politics at its worst. I can understand a person of foreign origin leading a small, backward country with no suitable local manpower. I will never accept an Italian woman running our country and the only reason being that she married right. Yuvraj Rahul has the same privileges, silver spoon and all, just because he was born right. There are thousands better qualified than Yuvraj even in the party ranks.
This is not democracy, this is a sham of a never-ending insidious kakistocracy driven by nepotism. This posted of Nehru symbolizes all that is wrong with this nation.
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