Wrong on so many levels

I suppose 9:45 AM is still fairly early in the morning. It's a bright sunny morning outside as I head into work. I settle down on my laptop and get on to IBNLive, my daily dose of news, and am confronted by the following headline -

Sharief may quit K'taka as grandson denied ticket [IBNLive]

Intrigued I click on it and read the entire article. This whole story is wrong on so many levels.

1. The headline itself.

We have a senior member of the Congress party, a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), who is now threatening to leave the party just because his grandson was denied a ticket. Isn't this blatant nepotism?

Perhaps, he could have made a case that his grandson was best suited to lead because of his impeccable credentials. Maybe he should had said that the Congress Committee was conspiring against him and his family. He could have placed the burden upon the party to publicly list all of the candidates it was fielding in Karnataka in the upcoming elections, along with their credentials, and not just reason why they are better suited than Sharief's grandson, but also also lend transparency to the entire process of candidate selection. If Rahul Gandhi really means what he says, then perhaps it is time for him to act on those same words and prove that they are not merely hollow rhetoric and actually start instituting reforms, albeit minor, in the Congress party.

But no. What does Sharief do? He throws a tantrum and starts flailing his arms about and starts crying like a 4 year old kid in Toys-R-Us when denied a toy by his parents.

2.

Sources close to him are now saying that he is considering joining the NCP or even the BSP.

If that immaturity wasn't bad enough, he then threatens to join parties that are ideologically poles apart from the party he is aligned with.

3.

Rattled by the sudden turn of events — which may adversely effect the Congress' chances of winning in the state — party leaders, including General Secretary Digvijay Singh, rushed to Shairef's residence to urge him not to take any hasty decisions.

?????

4.

However, despite the cajoling and urging, Congress sources say this is a 'blackmailing' tactic by the veteran leader to get another' ticket for a family member.

Wait. Did I read that correctly ... 'another ticket' ? If the Congress sources are willing to call a spade a spade, then why indulge and cajole such despicable individuals as was done by Congress leadership, noted in point 3 above?

5.

And then in a concluding paragraph, IBNLive pays homage to Sharief's tremendous contributions to both the Congress party and our nation.

Sharief, the Chairman of the party's Election Manifesto Committee, was instrumental in drafting the manifesto that promised colour TV sets and rice at Rs 2 per kg to the poor.

Yes, the genius idea of the free TVs and the cheap rice. What is with the TV anyway? Anyway, one member of his family in our political arena is bad enough. Let us not lower the collective competence of our political apparatus by including such able leaders. Just ask him to leave.

Dyanstic politics, sycophancy, nepotism. The Congress party and the people of Karnataka should set an example and just tell him to do everyone a favor and run off and cry by himself in a corner. Indulging such individuals is a danger not only to democracy but also to basic decency.