New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi spoke about a range of issues+ in an address in the US on Tuesday, but what he said about 'dynastic succession', by invoking actor Abhishek Bachchan and industrialist Mukesh Ambani, was particularly noteworthy and brought to mind of a recent 'nepotism' controversy in the Hindi film industry.
When asked about criticism of 'dynastic succession, after he spoke at the University of California, Berkeley, Rahul did call it a "problem" but added that is the way "most of the country runs"+ .
"It's a problem in all political parties in India. Most of the country runs like this, so don't go after me, Akhilesh Yadav a dynast, Mr Stalin a dynast, Mr (Prem Kumar) Dhumal's son a dynast, so don't just go after me...Even Mr. Abhishek Bachchan is a dynast, also Mr Ambani, that's what happens in India."
Rahul was referring to SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh, DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's son Stalin, senior BJP leader Dhumal's son Anurag Thakur, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan's son Abhishek and Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani's son, either Mukesh or Anil.
In this context, he indicated he's ready to take over the reins of the Congress, but made sure to add that only "organisational elections" in the party would determine that.
"I am absolutely ready for that, but our party works acc to organizational elections," emphasised Rahul.
The inevitability then, of dynastic succession, might make Rahul a reluctant politician, as some say he is. The Congress leader was asked by that too, and while he didn't expressly deny it, he described the people who put forth that impression of him.
"The BJP machine" is what he calls those people and he says there are "a 1,000" of them.
"There is a BJP machine. A 1,000 guys sitting on computers telling you about me. It's a tremendous machine, all day they spread abuse about me, say that I'm a 'reluctant politician... and the operation is run by the gentleman who is running our country," said Rahul referring making it pretty clear he was referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress leader then, of his own accord, chose to address ridicule about his intellect - or his "stupidity", as he put it - as well.
"All this BJP machine does is spread news about me, that I'm a 'reluctant politician', that I'm 'stupid'. That's all these 1,000 guys do."
Rahul on Modi's communication skills
Having dealt with questions about reluctance and intellect, the Congress vice president then acknowledged that PM Modi is a "better communicator" than he is. But it was a backhanded compliment from him to the PM.
"Mr. Modi has certain skills, he is a very good communicator, he's much better than me," said Rahul.
And then came the dig.
"He (Modi) knows how to give a message to 3-4 different groups in a crowd, so his messaging ability is very effective and subtle," added Rahul.
The Congress leader also alleged Modi took unilateral decisions+ .
"What I sense is he (Modi) doesn't converse with people he works with, even members of Parliament and BJP tell me (that)," he said.
"The BJP gives a top-down vision. We construct a bottom-up vision," added Rahul.
That's not what the Congress, does, he said, giving Jammu and Kashmir as an example.
"For 9 years I worked behind the scenes with PM Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and others on J&K," said Rahul.
PM Modi, though, "massively opened up space for the terrorists in Kashmir", said Rahul, alleging that's the reason for a flare up in violence in the troubled state over the last year.
"When we started, terrorism was rampant in Kashmir, when we finished there was peace, we had broken the back of terrorism," said Rahul about the Congress-led UPA government that was at the centre before 2014.
He said that by 2013, his government "broke the back of terror".
"I hugged PM Manmohan Singh and told him it was one of the biggest achievements," recalled Rahul.
The Congress vice president had complimentary things to say about the BJP's ally in Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP.
"The PDP was instrumental in bringing youngsters in politics, but the day PM Modi made alliance with PDP, he destroyed them," said Rahul.
In a rare moment of introspection, the Congress vice president, when asked about the rout of his party in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, said they had become "arrogant".
"Around 2012, arrogance crept into Congress party and we stopped having conversations with people," he said.
Rahul on 'politics of polarisation'
However, earlier, in his speech, he focussed on the alleged shortcomings of the Modi government.
Rahul tore into the Modi government saying that "violence, anger and the politics of polarisation have raised their ugly head in India", a development "that is new to the country". He harshly criticised the Centre for the recent spate of lynchings and cow-related vigilante acts of violence.
The politics of polarization is very dangerous. Hatred, anger and violence can destroy us. Liberal journalists are being shot. People are being lynched, dalits are being killed over suspicions of carrying beef, Muslims are killed over suspicions of eating beef, all this is new in India," said Rahul in his address at the university. The Congress vice president further said the violence is becoming more mainstream in the country today and that "is (a) dangerous) path. "The idea of non-violence is under attack today, yet it is only idea which can take humanity forward," said Rahul. The Congress leader also criticised the Modi's government's decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last November and called it a "unilateral" move.
"Decisions like demonetisation which remove 86% of cash from circulation were done unilaterally, without asking the chief economic advisor or the Cabinet or even Parliament, it (demonetisation) imposed a devastating cost. It cost us two percent loss in GDP. The government's economic policies and the hastily applied GST (Goods and Service Tax) can cause tremendous damage," added Rahul.
