Ready to take over as Cong president, says Rahul
Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday he was ready to take over as president of the Congress but it was up to the party to elect him to the post.
The Congress vice president made the comments at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also took a broad swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic policies, including the scrapping of high-value banknotes and the “hasty” rollout of a goods and services tax (GST).
He accused the government of pursuing divisive politics and doing little to stop vigilante violence and attacks on activists and journalists. Without naming him, Gandhi accused Modi of controlling “a BJP machine” of 1,000 people to abuse him online.
Gandhi’s comments triggered protests from the BJP, which called him a “failed dynast” who spoke in the United States because nobody in India was listening to him.
Asked if he was ready to take charge of his party, Gandhi – whose elevation in the party is long awaited – said he was “absolutely ready to do that”.
“But the way our party works, we have an organisational election process that decides that, and that process is currently ongoing.”
DYNASTS RUN INDIA
Gandhi also sought to deflect criticism that the Congress was a dynastic party, saying he shouldn’t be singled out because “that’s how India runs”, be it in politics, business or the film industry.
“Most parties in India have that problem… Akhilesh Yadav is a dynast; Mr Stalin is a dynast; Mr Dhumal’s son (Anurag Thakur) is a dynast; even Mr Abhishek Bachchan is a dynast,” he said. “So, don’t get after me.”
Gandhi, 47, kicked off a twoweek tour of the United States with Tuesday’s speaking assignment at the UCB.
NEW DELHI: “Most of the country runs like this. So, don’t go after me,” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday, maintaining dynastic politics was common to all parties in India.
Gandhi is the fifth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi family in politics. His father Rajiv Gandhi, grandmother Indira Gandhi and great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru all served as the country’s prime ministers.
“Akhilesh Yadav (son of former Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav) is a dynast, Mr Stalin (DMK supremo M Karunanidhi’s son) is a dynast, Mr (Prem Kumar) Dhumal’s son (Anurag Thakur of the BJP) is a dynast. Even Mr Abhishek Bachchan is a dynast, also Mr Ambani,” Gandhi said.
He was responding to a query that there was a perception that the Congress was associated with dynastic politics.
The question and answer session was followed a speech he delivered at the University of California, Berkeley on ‘India at 70: Reflections on the Path Forward’.
“That’s what happens in India and (that’s) just the way India runs. The real question is if that person is a capable, sensitive person,” the 47-year-old leader said.
The BJP has often pointed to the “Gandhi dynasty” to project itself as a party based on merit. Speaking at a BJP event in July, party’s national president Amit Shah had said, “Everyone knows who is going to be the next Congress president after Sonia Gandhi… Isn’t it? Tell me, who?”
He then went on to claim that no one knew who would succeed him in the BJP.
Gandhi tried to change things in the Congress and there were a large number of people who were not from dynastic families, Gandhi said.
“There are also people who have a father, a grandmother or a great grandfather in politics. Not much I could about this,” he said.
After he was named the Congress vice-president in January 2013, Gandhi vowed to end the heirloom politics but he has his task cut out.
Political parties, including the Congress and the BJP, are often criticised for promoting families in distribution of tickets during elections.
Leaders from both the parties have defended the move, saying though the family name helps carve an identity in politics but its sustainability hinges on the person’s performance.
Commenting on dynastic politics, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had once said, “Just like in a family of doctors, professors, businessmen, one or another will choose the path of the father. There is a difference in politics, as you are elected and defeated democratically.”