With vocabulary, the politicians and the press take us for a ride:

When Narendra Modi said that he would have been sad even if a puppy is run over by his chauffeur driven car, a hue and cry has been raised, particularly by the Congress Party spokesmen and the press. They said that it amounted to his comparing the Muslims killed in 2002 riots to a puppy and that he should have been careful in his selection of vocabulary, as the analogy of ‘puppy’ was an inept one.  To those who learnt what Mr. Modi had to say, it was a clear statement of his concern for even a puppy and that one only had to imagine his concern for the human beings.  

In his all out criticism of Narendra Modi, Mr. Digvijay Singh, General Secretary, Congress Party had said that he (Mr. Modi) was playing to ‘public gallery’. In English, there is an idiomatic phrase ‘playing to the gallery’, which means that one does something that gets the approval of the lower elements in the audience. Does he mean that Mr. Modi was playing to the lower elements of the public? Does he categorize the public into 1. Higher elements and 2. Lower elements? If he did not mean it, should he not have been careful in selection of his vocabulary.

Hoodwinking and taking people for a ride has become de rigueur for the politicians these days.