Sycophancy of pain: Bizarre, shocking acts by Sonia, Modi bhakts

It seems gods can rest in peace now as the entire devotion of bhakts (devotees) is directed towards politicians.

Otherwise, who could have imagined that someone can chop off and donate his finger for the sake of his political idols?
The saga of sycophancy in Indian political history reached a new height when a Karnataka man donated one of his fingers at Tirupati.

The offering was made at the famous Hindu temple after Congress leaders, Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, got bail in the National Herald case. The "painful sacrifice" of Induvalu Suresh, a 35-year-old businessman from Ramanagaram, near Bengaluru made national headlines.

A bloody affair

After the news broke out, Suresh was hailed as the Congress Ekalavya. It was Ekalavya in the epic Mahabharata who sacrificed his right thumb for his Guru Dronacharya.

The only difference between the famous archer and Suresh is the choice of their fingers-Ekalavya's thumb was replaced by Suresh's little finger.

When all of us were celebrating Christmas on December 25, Suresh went to Tirupati, chopped off his little finger and dropped it in the hundi (donation box) as a token of gratitude. However, the news of his 'supreme' sacrifice broke out only a few days ago.

"The entire Congress party was worried when Sonia and Rahul were summoned by the court. I took a vow that if my leaders are granted bail I will offer my finger to God," Suresh told TOI.

"I wrapped the finger in a Rs 1,000 note with a letter thanking God for granting bail to Sonia and Rahul and dropped it in the hundi. I did not feel any pain when I cut my finger. Later, I went to the hospital adjacent to the temple and told the doctor that I lost my finger while repairing the AC compressor of my car," Suresh added.

Like many of us, Karnataka housing minister and popular actor MH Ambareesh was also appalled by the bizarre act. "You are Kalyug's Ekalavya. But we don't want sycophancy of pain," Ambareesh told Suresh.

When politicians turn gods

A popular method adopted by followers to express their admiration for their favourite politicians is to build temples in the name of their leaders.

Thus, we have temples with lookalike idols dedicated to MG Ramachandran (MGR), Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi and others.

Last year, Prime Minister Modi expressed his shock after he learnt that a temple was built in his name in Guajarat.
"Have seen the news about a temple being built in my name. I was appalled. This is shocking & against India's great traditions," Modi tweeted.

Namaste is outdated, touching feet is in vogue

Recently, pictures of prominent Congress leader V Narayanasamy from Puducherry holding Rahul Gandhi's slippers went viral. It is a common scene in every political event, where party workers and followers were seen touching the feet of their leaders.

Immediately after assuming power at the Centre in 2014, Prime Minister Modi issued directives for BJP's MPs to stop touching feet of senior leaders.

In spite, of getting snubbed by their political bosses, admirers never shy away from expressing their gratitude to the utter shock and dismay of onlookers.

Maybe, crazy fans of netas firmly believe in the concept of a different kind of 'public display of affection' (PDA). But these PDAs are mostly cringeworthy.