Rahul Gandhi distanced himself from the prevailing political system and emphasised the need to devolve power, in a rare public interaction that was praised for its earnest style but damned for his refusal to deal in specifics.
The reclusive vice-president of the Congress party sought to combine a television-optimised delivery with political messages that laid down his vision, talked up his party’s inclusive approach and framed his opponents’ politics as harmful for growth.
“When you play the politics of alienating communities, you stop the movement of people and ideas. When that happens, we all suffer. Businesses suffer and the seeds of disharmony are sown and the dreams of our people are severely disrupted,” he said.
Peppered with anecdotes and delivered with a light touch, Gandhi drew from his travels and interactions with the common man to argue that India had immense entrepreneurial energy but a clogged political system that disempowered them. He said his work at the Youth Congress has tried to address this problem, but Gandhi did not elaborate on the measure of success he has found.
Gandhi’s significant appearance before a business audience comes amid speculation about the schedule of the next general elections and who the principal parties will field as prime ministerial candidates. He sought to underplay the popular narrative that frames the election as a contest between BJP’s Narendra Modi and himself.
The Key Takeaways From RAHUL’S SPEECH
ON PRIME MINISTERSHIP
Indicated he is not interested in talking about it, calling it ‘irrelevant’ and ‘all smoke’
ON ECONOMIC ISSUES
Gave political message on inclusive growth and how India’s economic vision must be about compassion
ON BUSINESS
Said it is critical that business environment is ‘stable and predictable’
ON POLITICAL VISION
Harped on importance of devolution of power and empowerment of people — both pet themes of his ‘One Man Can’t Solve Country’s Problems’
“Somebody says I will be prime minister. Then somebody else says he won’t be prime minister. Then somebody says I might be prime minister. It is like you have in US polling charts, there is 47.3% possibility he might be prime minister. These questions are irrelevant. It is all smoke. The only relevant question is how can we give a voice to the people,” he said.
He made a strong argument against centralisation, saying it was time to set aside the idea that one man can somehow solve all of the country’s problems. It is perhaps a dig at the political narrative surrounding Modi that pitches him as a solution to the country’s problems.
India, he said, believes in “the man who comes in on a horse, there is the sun in the background, a billion people waiting, and he is going to fix everything. No, that’s not going to happen”. He said, “Give one individual all the power you want, he cannot solve the problems of a billion people. Give a billion people the power to solve their problems, it will be done immediately.”
But Gandhi himself shied away from discussing specific problems or potential solutions. It was unclear what he thought of the quality of governance as the vice president of the party that leads the ruling coalition. There was no reference to issues such as poor economic growth, high inflation and deficits either.
He spoke of the need for having a “stable and predictable” business environment and sought the support of the industry to build infrastructure and improve the quality of education and training. He pitched for greater partnership between the government and industry.
“What India is thirsting for now is a visionary partnership. A partnership that incentivises you to provide economic gains for the poor and the millions of aspiring middle class. It is only once this partnership is forged that we will generate the momentum to transform this country,” Gandhi said.
He seemed to suggest that though he had been thrust on the political scene because of his lineage, he had done his bit by way of homework. As he regaled the audience with interesting anecdotes about the secretary of a Chinese minister, an Italian friend from China and students from MIT, he positioned himself as a youthful politician who would want to involve industry in policymaking.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party was unimpressed with Gandhi’s address.
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