Kozhikode, Jan 18: A "fifth-generation dynast" Rahul Gandhi has no chance in Indian politics against a "hard-working and self-made" Narendra Modi, and Kerala did a disastrous thing by electing the the Congress leader to Parliament, historian Ramachandra Guha said here on Friday.
Guha said the reduction of the Congress from a "great party" during the freedom movement to a "pathetic family firm" now is one of the reasons for the ascendency of Hindutva and jingoism in India.
"I have nothing against Rahul Gandhi personally. He is a decent fellow, very well-mannered. But young India does not want a fifth-generation dynast. If you Malyalis make the mistake of re-electing Rahul Gandhi in 2024 too, you are merely handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi," said Guha on the second day of the ongoing Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) during his talk, "Patriotism Vs Jingoism".
Addressing the crowd, full of Keralites, he said, "Kerala, you have done many wonderful things for India, but one of the disastrous thing you did was to elect Rahul Gandhi to Parliament."
"Narendra Modi's great advantage is that he is not Rahul Gandhi. He is self-made. He has run a state for 15 years, he has an administrative experience, he is incredibly hard working and he never takes holidays in Europe. Believe me I am saying all this in all seriousness," he said.
But, even if Rahul Gandhi was "much more intelligent, more hard-working, never took a holiday in Europe, as a fifth generation dynast he still will be at a disadvantage against a self-made person", the 61-year-old author said.
He took on Congress president Sonia Gandhi too who, he said, reminded him of the "late Mughal dynasty" and how aloof they were of the state of their kingdom.
"India is becoming more democratic and less feudal, and the Gandhis just don't realise this. You (Sonia) are in Delhi, your kingdom is shrinking more and more but still your chamchas (sycophants) are telling you that you are still the badshah," he said.
Further, he quoted his teacher and noted Indian sociologist Andre Beteille to describe the story of Nehru-Gandhi family as a classic "reversal of the famous Biblical injunction": the sins of the father will be visited upon seven successive generations.
"In the Nehru's case, it is the sins of the seven successive generations have been re-visited upon Nehru... look at the national debate today. Why is Nehru evoked everytime? Why does Modi always say Nehru ne Kashmir mein yeh kiya, China mein yeh kiya, Triple Talaq mein yeh kiye ... because Rahul Gandhi is there.
"Now if Rahul Gandhi disappears, Modi has to talk about his own policies and why they failed," he said.
According to Guha, "Hypocrisy of the Indian Left -- the fact that they loved other nations more than India", "rise of aggressive nationalism worldwide" and "the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in neighbouring countries" are some other reasons behind the evident leap of Hindutva in India in the recent times.
Historian William Dalrymple, novelists like Benyamin, Namita Gokhale, Chetan Bhagat and journalists Karan Thapar and Rajdeep Sardesai are among the many other writers who will be attending the four-day festival.
The focus theme of KLF 2020 is environment and climate change.
Comments
Kobrakka...
you know what human lives are much more important than cows, are you agree if cow protectors are killing human to protect cows ??? if so you should thrash those people who killing and exporting to Gulf countries.
Dear Shobakka, you shgould agitate to know who are the real cow thieves and where are they supplying these. I am 100 percent sure that 99 percent of these thieves are from sangh parivar and they transport the cows to Gujrat beef exporters owned by sanghis. Shoba is trying to fool us and divert the issue. She also knows the fact but doing drama. She is following her boss in this practice. Why dont you urgent in parliament to stop beef export and declare cow as national animal? Why bjp is not interesting is doing so and doing drama on cow. For them cow is sacred and should not be consumed by poor people in india and not sacred for exporting beef out of the country. does Shoba also has any beef exporting factory in Gujarat? May be yes.
ಈ ಎಂಪಿ ಖಾಲಿ ಜಾನುವಾರುಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆಯೇ ಇರುವುದು ಬಿಟ್ಟರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಇಲ್ಲವೇ?
ಯಾರಾದರೂ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪಹೇಳಿ ಕೊಡಿರಿ - ಜಾನುವಾರು ಕಳವು ಆದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಡಿಪಾರ್ಟ್ಮೆಂಟ್ ಇದೆ- ಅವರು ಅದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೆ
ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕೆಲಸ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ - ಅದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಗಮನ ಕೊಡಿ ಮೇಡಂ
ಗತಿಸಿದ ೫ ವರ್ಷ ಖಾಲಿ ಹೆಣ ಮತ್ತು ದನದ ಹಿಂದೆಯೇ ಆಯಿತು
ಈ ೫ ವರ್ಷ ವಾದರೂ ದಯಮಾಡಿ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಕಡೆ ಗಮನ ಕೊಡಿ ಪ್ಲೀಸ್
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