‘Absolutely ready to be the PM candidate in 2019’

Choosing foreign soil to make the announcement, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has declared he is “absolutely ready” to be the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 general elections. However, he made it clear that the decision has to be finally approved by the party.

Often under attack from the BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, over dynasty politics, Rahul said it “is a problem in all political parties in India” but that is how “most of the country runs like”.

“I am absolutely ready to do that,” Rahul, who is widely tipped to succeed his mother Sonia as party president, said when he was asked during his talk on Monday night at a university here if he was ready to be the Congerss’s PM candidate for the next Lok Sabha elections. This is the first time that the Gandhi scion has publicly affirmed his readiness to be the Congress choice for the top post.

Rahul, who is on a two-week US visit to interact with political leaders, global thinkers and overseas Indians, was speaking to students at the university where his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru had delivered a speech in 1949.

“For me to say that the decision (to be PM candidate) is mine would not be fair. That is the decision the Congress party has to make,” said the 47-year-old.

On dynastic politics, he said it “is a problem in all political parties in India” but that is how “most of the country runs like”. He cited former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, DMK leader MK Stalin, Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan and business magnates Mukesh and Anil Ambani as examples of dynastic legacy in India.

Speaking at the event ‘India at 70: Reflections on the Path Forward’, Rahul talked about a range of issues including the Congress’s loss in the 2014 general elections. He admitted that “in around 2012, arrogance crept into the Congress and we stopped having conversations with people”, which led to the party’s loss in the last poll.

“For rebuilding the party, we need to design a vision that we can use moving forward. Most of what the BJP (government) is doing, is what we once said,” he said, citing the examples of the UPA government’s MNREGA and GST.

Rahul criticised Modi’s demonetisation move and the “hastily implemented” GST regime that he said caused “tremendous damage to the Indian economy”.

He accused Modi of controlling and managing an online machine of over 1,000 trolls, whose purpose is to destroy Rahul’s credibility and call him “stupid and incompetent”. He, however, acknowledged that Modi is a “better communicator” than he is.

Kashmir problem

On the Kashmir issue, he alleged that the government had opened up the space for terrorism in the State. “When we started, terrorism was rampant in Kashmir. And when we finished by 2013, we basically broke the back of terror, I hugged (then) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and told him it was one of the biggest achievements.”

“For nine years I worked behind the scenes with PM Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and others on J&K,” said Rahul.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who was present in the audience during Rahul’s speech, tweeted: “A speech marked by acuity and passion, and a discussion infused with candour and insight.”

COMMENT NOW