Rahul plays reluctant politician card again
5 April 2013 12:54 AM GMT
Addressing the the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here in the national capital, Gandhi said: ‘Questions related to me being the next Prime Minister or getting married were irrelevant questions. It’s all smoke.’
During the interaction, the leader emphasised his role is ‘an accident of fate’ because he comes ‘from a chain of people.’ He also tried to underplay his charisma, something which the Congress wants to hawk to steer it through the next general elections. ‘Give one individual all the power you want. Give him everything. He cannot solve the problems of a billion people. Give a billion people the power to solve their problems, it will be done immediately. I want to help Indian people to find their voice,’ he said.
Gandhi rejected the idea of one individual changing the face of the country. He said that we in India believe that ‘you’re going to have the one guy who is going to come, and he’s going to fix everything. He’s going to come on a horse.’
The Congress leader, however, did not lose the opportunity to take barbs at his rivals. ‘Politics of alienating communities affects growth and the Congress stands for inclusive growth. It is very dangerous to leave people behind. Inclusive growth is a win-win for everybody,’ said the Gandhi scion in an oblique reference to the Gujarat model of development.
‘There are two ways this movement can go. It can go harmoniously or it can go disruptively. The idea of the Congress party is that it should go harmoniously and everybody should move together and happily,’ he said while insisting the need to go about this compassionately. He went on to say that anger, hatred and prejudice did not contribute to growth.
But what what stood out was Gandhi’s candid, casual and emotionally charged interactive session with the audience after the speech where he spoke his heart out. Focusing on the need to bring out the aam aadmi’s voice he said, ‘India is bursting with dreams and ideas. The spirit of India has to move forward. We have to channelise the energy of India’s youngsters. We need better physical structure for India’s growth. Corporates must help government build infrastructure’.
Formally addressing the CII for the first time, Gandhi said, ‘We tend to think of India as a nation, but if we go back 100 years, India was actually a energy...a force.’ Personalising the discourse, the 42-year-old Congress leader said, ‘When I went to university in 1991, nobody knew India...that is not the case now thanks to you people.’
‘China is referred to as the dragon and India as an elephant. But we are not an elephant, we are a beehive,’ he said, adding that currently unlike a beehive which gives every member a voice the system in India is ‘clogged’ and the voices of most people are not heard.
RAHUL-NAMA
During the interaction, the leader emphasised his role is ‘an accident of fate’ because he comes ‘from a chain of people.’ He also tried to underplay his charisma, something which the Congress wants to hawk to steer it through the next general elections. ‘Give one individual all the power you want. Give him everything. He cannot solve the problems of a billion people. Give a billion people the power to solve their problems, it will be done immediately. I want to help Indian people to find their voice,’ he said.
Gandhi rejected the idea of one individual changing the face of the country. He said that we in India believe that ‘you’re going to have the one guy who is going to come, and he’s going to fix everything. He’s going to come on a horse.’
The Congress leader, however, did not lose the opportunity to take barbs at his rivals. ‘Politics of alienating communities affects growth and the Congress stands for inclusive growth. It is very dangerous to leave people behind. Inclusive growth is a win-win for everybody,’ said the Gandhi scion in an oblique reference to the Gujarat model of development.
‘There are two ways this movement can go. It can go harmoniously or it can go disruptively. The idea of the Congress party is that it should go harmoniously and everybody should move together and happily,’ he said while insisting the need to go about this compassionately. He went on to say that anger, hatred and prejudice did not contribute to growth.
But what what stood out was Gandhi’s candid, casual and emotionally charged interactive session with the audience after the speech where he spoke his heart out. Focusing on the need to bring out the aam aadmi’s voice he said, ‘India is bursting with dreams and ideas. The spirit of India has to move forward. We have to channelise the energy of India’s youngsters. We need better physical structure for India’s growth. Corporates must help government build infrastructure’.
Formally addressing the CII for the first time, Gandhi said, ‘We tend to think of India as a nation, but if we go back 100 years, India was actually a energy...a force.’ Personalising the discourse, the 42-year-old Congress leader said, ‘When I went to university in 1991, nobody knew India...that is not the case now thanks to you people.’
‘China is referred to as the dragon and India as an elephant. But we are not an elephant, we are a beehive,’ he said, adding that currently unlike a beehive which gives every member a voice the system in India is ‘clogged’ and the voices of most people are not heard.
RAHUL-NAMA
- Give one individual all the power you want. Give him everything. He cannot solve the problems of a billion people. Give a billion people the power to solve their problems, it will be done immediately. I want to help Indian people to find their voice
- There are two ways this movement can go. It can go harmoniously or it can go disruptively. The idea of the Congress party is that it should go harmoniously and everybody should move together and happily
- When I went to university in 1991, nobody knew India... that is not the case now thanks to you people. China is referred to as the dragon and India as an elephant. But we are not an elephant, we are a beehive
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