The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare India, led by JP Nadda, has announced Deepika Padukone as its Frist-Ever Mental Health Ambassador, it shook the hell out of common sense. But then I had a close look at JP Nadda and his contribution to the BJP. When the BJP and Narendra Modi were targeting 400 plus seats in the Lok Sabha in 2024 elections and the grassroots of the party and its symbiotic institution RSS were putting their plans to action for the target, JP Nadda came up with a narrative one would normally expect from the master of such unique acts – Rahul Gandhi. In an interview with The Indian Express JP Nadda, as BJP national president, stirred controversy in May 2024 when he stated that the BJP had grown from the time it needed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and was now “saksham (capable)” of running its own affairs. He explained that while the RSS remained “a cultural and social organisation,” the BJP functioned as “a political organisation” managing its affairs independently.
These remarks were widely interpreted as suggesting that the BJP no longer depended on the RSS to win elections, prompting discontent among RSS cadres, particularly in Kerala, where the Sangh is vital to grassroots mobilization.
Unsurprisingly, the top RSS leaders later downplayed the controversy, calling it a “family matter. The incident nevertheless exposed underlying unease within sections of the Sangh Parivar over the BJP’s increasing independence and the centralization of power under party leaders like Narendra Modi and JP Nadda.
The RSS leadership being too decent had to say what it said not to cause further embarrassment to the BJP.
The result was that the BJP could not maintain its 303 seats it had secured in 2019 and folded on 204. Some experts attribute at least a portion of the loss the discontent and disengagement of some RSS grassroots workers in vital areas.
Ignoring the internal and external political skirmishes that happen from time to time, after his remarks about the RSS, he has hit the headlines again with his choice of appointing Bollywood starlet Deepika Padukone as the First Ever Mental Health Ambassador for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Union of India which JP Nadda holds.
Renowned Indian actress Deepika Padukone has been appointed as the first-ever Mental Health Ambassador of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
She expressed her deep honor in taking up this role and emphasized her commitment to supporting India’s ongoing efforts under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. With this collaboration, she aims to contribute to strengthening the nation’s mental health framework, building on the significant strides India has made in prioritizing mental well-being.
This partnership marks an important step towards raising awareness, reducing stigma, and promoting mental health across the country.
The Ministry added that this partnership marks an important step towards raising awareness, reducing stigma, and promoting mental health across the country.
The appointment comes as The Live Love Laugh Foundation, Deepika Padukone’s charitable trust, completes 10 years of service and impact.
If anything, I believe Deepika needs mental health professional more than anyone else in India. This is what she endorsed of personal relationships, marriage and culture to empower Indian woman. Here are the exact script lines Deepika Padukone speaks in the short film “My Choice”:
“My body, my mind, my choice
To wear the clothes I like; even if my spirit roams naked
My choice; to be a size 0 or a size 15
They don’t have a size for my spirit, and never will
To use cotton and silk to trap my soul is to believe that you can halt the expansion of the universe
Or capture sunlight in the palm of your hand
Your mind is caged, let it free
My body is not
Let it be
My choice
To marry, or not to marry
To have sex before marriage, to have sex out of marriage, or to not have sex
My choice
To love temporarily, or to lust forever
My choice
To love a man, or a woman, or both
Remember; you are my choice, I’m not your privilege
The bindi on my forehead, the ring on my finger, adding your surname to mine, they’re all ornaments and can be replaced
My love for you cannot, so treasure that
My choice; to come home when I want
Don’t be upset if I come home at 4am
Don’t be fooled if I come home at 6pm,…
My choice; to have your baby or not
To pick you from 7 billion choices or not
So don’t get cocky
My pleasure might be your pain
My songs, your noise
My order, your anarchy
Your sins, my virtues
My choices are like my fingerprints
They make me unique
I am the tree of the forest
I am the snowflake not the snowfall
You are the snowflake
Wake up
Get out of the shit storm
I choose to empathise
Or to be indifferent
I choose to be different
I am the universe
Infinite in every direction
This is my choice”
The above script from Deepika’s short film sets up the absolute opposite of what we have known for centuries the Bharatiya Nari or Indian woman to be. She has been also interrogated by authorities in relation to drugs.
The question is how can anyone pick such a person for any role, let alone the First-Ever Mental Health Ambassador.
She has also been involved in the anti-Indian activities by JNU activists.
The only other way of explaining this appointment is to see this decision as the BJP’s mental health. Nadda may personally like Deepika or any other actress but he must be cognizant of the fact that the Union government is not his personal fiefdom. If the BJP starts exhibiting arrogance the way it has, many voters will start to find Rahul Gandhi as the lesser of two evils.
Whatever the reasons, there is absolutely no merit in this decision other than viewing this decision of JP Nadda as a decision taken when he was overwhelmingly inspired by ‘Shri Rahul Gandhi of the greatest political party of India, the Indian National Congress’. If nothing can deter Rahul Gandhi from saying or doing whatever he likes, no matter what the consequences, why should his followers not follow their role model?