Friday, April 27, 2007

Rahul 'UP' Gandhi

Well well well. He was expected to make his presence a little earlier but now he has made it. Rahul Gandhi – the youth star the congress is banking upon to salvage its pride in its elections has joined the bandwagon of politicians courting controversy. Congress has always tried to win over the Hindi heartland consisting mainly of UP to maintain a lead over other parties and to establish its rule in the centre. Hence it has always projected its prime ministerial candidate as one ‘for the UP’, be it Rajiv Gandhi or at present – Rahul Gandhi. But, in the case of Rahul Gandhi, one needs to accept that it has failed miserably. Further rubbing salts onto its wounds, Rahul has stirred the hornet’s nest by claiming that it was his family that was responsible for the independence of India and the creation of Bangladesh.

If it was his family that had got independence for India, then what about the cases of other freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives to set India free? Were they all dummy? I think Rahul bunked his history classes while in school. Someone should enlighten him on the history of India before Congress and others make him a prominent contender for the prime ministerial berth.

Commenting on Bangladesh’s independence and Indira Gandhi’s tactics to attract votes at a time when governments of India and Pakistan are pursuing a peace process shows his immaturity in politics. Rahul needs to learn more. This is only his first tenure as MP and banking on his slender shoulders is a clear fact that Congress does not have anyone to attract the masses. Rahul needs to work more before he his offered the prime ministerial berth.

To all those people who heard his speech about child education in the parliament, these controversies are a real shocker. He is still young and can learn a lot. But with no proper guidance inside the congress, he may very well succumb to the pressures and become a mediocre politician. He is the star among the next generation politicians and hope he does not become ‘just one of those many politicians‘.