'An insult to compare Amit Shah to the likes of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel'

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: TJS George needs no introduction. He has been a journalist, author and biographer who received the Padma Bhushan in 2011 in the field of literature and education, and has had a column that ran in the Indian Express without a break for 25 years. In his long career, he has documented many famous personalities from MS Subbulakshmi to Amit Shah, many of which are contained in his latest book ‘The Dismantling of India in 35 Portraits’.

When asked about the range of topics he has covered by Sashi Kumar, he said, “Because that’s what journalism is all about.” Even though he faithfully documented times he lived in, he hasn’t paid much attention to the Gandhis, past or present.

He even once equated a Walt Disney quote to Rahul Gandhi that said, ‘Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional. “Rahul Gandhi will not matter in 50 years, whereas Annadurai will because he came up with a new philosophy of Tamil identity and was an original thinker who was different from the politicians of his time,” noted George.

Of Amit Shah, he says is a slimy operator who you wouldn’t want to run into late at night on a street corner and feels it is an insult to compare him to the likes of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He also comments on the books written by Modi and that are written about him.

“To have his name stitched into his clothes takes imagination and guts,” he says. When asked what the fundamental difference between Vajpayee and Modi is, he responded, “Vajpayee was bigger than his party and often rose above them, whereas Modi does not.”