Amit Shah's lesson for Modi: 'Sorry' is really a magic word

‘Sorry’ definitely seems to be the hardest word - especially when it comes to our politicians. Rahul Gandhi balked at saying it during his now infamous interview with Arnab Goswami when asked about the 1984 riots and immediately paid the price. Similarly, Narendra Modi has steadfastly avoided saying he is sorry for the 2002 Gujarat riots, the closest he has managed to get to it being an expression of regret and helplessness - with of course that infamous ‘puppy’ remark. It’s unclear exactly what our netas think will happen if they end up saying the dreaded ’s’ word. Fires of rain, and the end of the world as we know it perhaps. [caption id=“attachment_1486105” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Amit Shah has discovered the magic of apologising: AFP[/caption] But now finally, we have had someone actually come out, bite the bullet and apologize - and ‘gasp’ nothing bad happened! Amit Shah, trusted aide to the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate and the organiser of the party campaign in the all important Uttar Pradesh, who was banned from making any public speeches by the election commission, has been allowed to resume his public campaigning after he apologised and told the EC that it would never happen again. Taking into account Shah’s promise not to do anything to disturb public tranquility and law and order, the commission decided to give him a second chance with the direction that his every public meeting be closely monitored and videographed. This is an important life lesson to our netas - one which they were either completely unaware of, or had forgotten along the way. Saying you were wrong and that you are sorry is not always an admission of failure. And sometimes people like you all the better for it. Nothing soothes the irate heart quite like a well timed and fervent apology. It helps everyone just move on. Sticking fervently to your stand and acting like you are the one being persecuted on the other hand, just gets tiring after a while. Take the case of Amit Shah’s Uttar Pradesh counterpart, the equally foul mouthed Azam Khan, who remains banned by the EC. The Samajwadi party refused to back down but instead played victim. First it was the fault of the media, because as party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said, “Khan had stated nothing wrong and the media had portrayed it in a wrong way”. Now it’s a political conspiracy. “When the EC has lifted the ban on Amit Shah, the ban on Azam Khan should also be lifted. Looks like the EC is also working under the pressure from BJP and Narendra Modi.. this shows the double standards. We condemn this,” said SP leader Naresh Aggarwal. Because, of course, Azam Khan cannot possibly say sorry. End result? The SP leader is still in campaign exile. In the macho chest thumping world of Indian politics, the perception has been that there is no space for regret or admission of wrongdoing. But Amit Shah has shown us an important lesson that ‘sorry’ really can be a magic word. A lesson perhaps his friend and boss Narendra Modi can learn? As we noted in  _Firstpost_ earlier , the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate has already unveiled a ‘softer’ more statesmanlike avatar in recent interviews. But even this new and improved Modi is unlikely to let go of his inner Azam Khan