Narendra Modi, the man most likely to become India’s next prime minister, has a wicked turn of phrase. In one of his most memorable remarks, he subverted his strong association with Hindu asceticism by declaring his support for “toilets before temples”. The same phrase, spoken by a Congress party cabinet minister, had provoked outrage from the Bharatiya Janata party of which Mr Modi is head. The BJP said the remark threatened to “destroy the fine fabric of religion and faith”. But the party hierarchy, knowing that its fate depends on the so-called “Modi wave”, barely demurred when its candidate adopted the slogan as his own.
纳伦德拉•莫迪(Narendra Modi，见上图)，这个很可能成为印度下一任总理的男人，有时在措辞上非常巧妙。他最令人难忘的言论之一，便是他宣布支持“厕所先于神庙”，此言推翻了他与印度教禁欲主义的密切联系。同样的话语，出自一名国大党(Congress party)内阁部长之口，曾激起莫迪所领导的印度人民党(Bharatiya Janata party)的愤怒，称这样的言论可能“破坏宗教和信仰的良好结构”。但人民党很清楚自己的命运依赖于所谓的“莫迪浪潮”，因此当其候选人将上述口号收为己用时几乎一声不吭。