RAFALE KERFUFFLE

Ajay Rai gets some chilli in his eyes after a satirical send-up of Rajnath. The Congress battles to wash off 'sedition' stain, as Rai remonstrates ruefully

- By Avaneesh Mishra

THE FRONTS HAVE FALLEN SILENT, but a piece of pre-war parodising has come back to smite the Congress on its rear. On May 4, a dozen days of non-action had elapsed since Pahalgam, and UP Congress chief Ajay Rai felt time was ripe for a satirical send-up of his state mate, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh. He held up a toy Rafale, with a nimboo-mirchi evil-eye dangling from it, and waxed vitriolic: “I want to ask the government when this lemon and chilli will be removed from the Rafale to avenge the attack?” It was a direct jibe at Rajnath’s televised