RaGa, the master of backhanded insults?

We're all familiar with backhanded compliments. 'You look great for your age' is probably on top of the 'backcom' pile of insults in compliments' clothing. Then there's the classic, 'He's much smarter than he looks,' which for the less smart can sound like a bona fide encomium. 'Your English is so good,' is special in that it covers both bases of class and nationality while being patronising. A person being 'surprising good' at something is unsurprisingly liable to raise brows - and rightfully so. Complimenting someone for being 'mature for his or her age' is another knobturner, especially in societies where college-goers are still referred to as 'children'.

But along with backcoms, could there be a phenom by the name of 'backhanded insults'? Essentially when someone insults a person, but actually ends up complimenting her or him? In this department, Rahul Gandhi could be a trendsetter. Recently, the man who seems much more capable than he seems to be (see what we did here?), trying to raise the issue of unemployment, described how he saw young men in Varanasi lying on the road drunk. 'This is UP's future - drinking and dancing on the road at night.' Funny thing is, Gandhi, in the process of castigating Varanasi's youth like Sanskari Uncle, may have ended up telling the country how youngsters in UP know how to have fun.