Rahul Gandhi speaks at CII meet, tough to say what he spoke about!
There is something disconcertingly childish about the 42-year-old Rahul Gandhi. This wouldn’t be worrisome if he were a visiting lecturer from a minor leftist college. Rahul Gandhi just does not have the heft of a full professor either way.
But this man is aspiring to become the Prime Minister of India if the buzz from his party and the media (apart from the ‘constant buzz’ in his head) is to be believed, and he does admit India is “complex”. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one word he uttered that was the remotest bit practical throughout his meandering speech and the Q&A session (during which his answers had no relevance to the questions that were asked) that followed.
Rahul Gandhi dabbled self-consciously with broad- brush thematics, full of tired platitudes and mawkish sentiment. He stumbled through his prepared speech after a fashion. There were no solutions offered.
The biggest single idea stated was that the energy of the people needs to be unleashed. Yes, and infrastructure needs to be constructed. Yes, and everyone needs to be empowered.
It was reminiscent of a lecturer who would have been more comfortable teaching tiny tots at primary school. Analysts who spoke after the performance, even sympathetic ones, were left groping in the dark to describe it, and rate it within the context of Rahul Gandhi’s thoughts on business and industry.
The captains of said business and industry who were listening to him along with a contingent of senior bureaucrats and officials could barely raise weak applause two or three times during the hour. They did clap more enthusiastically at his assumed modesty, but the undertone was one of confused despair.
This man, the assemblage could see, had no answers for them. Everything that he talked of was on the never-never, with an infinity focus. Urgency and time frames were conspicuous by their absence.
Rahul Gandhi raised a few desultory issues in the most abstract terms leaving his audience quite foxed. He rambled on for over an hour, crossing and re-crossing the same ground with a disconnected, halting, anecdotal, rhetorical froth.
Yes, Rahul Gandhi clearly stated the Congress line on inclusiveness. He spoke of harmony. But he took absolutely no responsibility for the dismal showing of the UPA over the last nine plus years.
Yet, Rahul Gandhi was careful to give himself a cop-out by declaring he wasn’t a “hard-nosed politician”. This even though his apprenticeship has taken him to the post of PM- in-waiting.
Or perhaps one pole of the “diarchy- dual centres of power” style of functioning without accountability, currently being followed by the UPA.
Rahul Gandhi said there is no “guy on a horse” who will come along and fix anything. He believes it can’t be done by anyone, but this is better translated as he certainly can’t do it, and does not even want to try.
He was quite impassioned and sincere that he wants to give voice to the people of India. But he thinks the political system is clogged and cannot deliver. He thinks it is disconnected.
He does not believe 4000 MLAs and 700 MPs can run this country effectively because they are not really representative. The Pradhans need to be brought into the political system he said, without giving any clue as to how.
The weird thing about all that he said is that it is at complete variance with the reality of what his party and the UPA Government practices.
Perhaps Rahul Gandhi sees himself as some kind of political philosopher and critic of the system including his own party and Government.
He used various anecdotes and analogies in his by now typical style. He did not agree with JFK’s statement about a rising tide raising all boats by quipping the poor have no boats and the Government must build the boats for them.
He spoke fitfully of exponential growth as opposed to incremental growth, but did not seem to have much faith in his speech-written lines.
Rahul Gandhi spoke of dreams and energy, of infrastructure development, roads, ports, electricity, partnership with business and industry. Speed.
Seeds of a world class system, training, skill development, making education relevant and his speech mascot, Girish the migrant carpenter, come to Mumbai on the Lokmanya Tilak Express from Gorakhpur in UP.
But please Mr Gandhi, where is the action on any of this from your Government in power? Your Government which is disconnected. And which you admit is corrupt.
But never mind all that. Rahul Gandhi actually panicked when he got his papers mixed up during his time on the CII podium. He said on the mike, “I have lost it…One sec…”
To me this sums it all up in his own words.
Too much passion, too little substance in Rahul Gandhi's CII address
Manu Kaushik Last Updated: April 5, 2013 | 08:54 IST
STORY TOOLS
Rahul Gandhi speaks during the 2013 annual general meeting and national conference of Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi on April 4, 2013 (Photo: Reuters/Adnan Abidi)
Manu Kaushik
At a time when India's economic growth is at its lowest point in a decade and businesses are facing the heat of a downturn, Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi's address at the CII's Annual General Meeting and National Conference 2013 was an eagerly anticipated affair.
Gandhi, 42, was called to present his economic agenda to the captains of corporate India. The message in his 28-minute speech to that audience was that the government cannot solve all the problems that beset the country. "If you expect Manmohanji to solve your problems, then keep expecting. You people have to take the lead and create jobs. The government's job is to improve the playing field and provide a rule-based, impartial governance system."
Although Gandhi's speech was scheduled to begin at 10.45 am, the venue, New Delhi's Ashok hotel, was filling up by 9 am.
Clad in a white kurta pyjama, Gandhi made his address amidst tight security. He began by explaining the changing image of India over the years. He said that when he was studying in the US in 1991, nobody took India seriously. "People used to laugh at us. But the situation has changed now."
Referring to notes on a piece of paper, he then talked about the huge migration across the country and how there is a need to channelise the ideas and dreams of these migrants in the right direction.
He briefly mentioned the need for infrastructure, road connectivity, ports and power before finally moving on to his pet topic of empowering the poor.
The session was attended by the who's who of the corporate world. Among those in attendance were industrialists Adi Godrej, Sunil Mittal, Rahul Bajaj, Shivinder Singh, S. Gopalakrishnan and Naveen Jindal, who is also an MP. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the Prime Minister's advisor on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, Sam Pitroda, were also present.
Moving on, the Congress party leader criticised the country's prevailing education system. "A large part of our education is based on defunct ideas. The problem with our universities is that they are working in silos and not connected to the industry."
Between presenting some broad-brush solutions to the country's problems, Gandhi did not miss the opportunity to praise his party and the initiatives taken by the Congress-led central government. "Congress is inclusive by design. Poor people have a problem of identification, which is being tackled by Nandan (Nilekani, UIDAI chief)."
The speech was followed by a much-longer Q&A session, though there were just two questions asked. The first, by Ajay Shriram of DCM Shriram Consolidated, was about the equation between central and state governments. Gandhi responded by saying that it all boils downs to how much power is given to people at the local level. "Our political structure is not designed to include pradhans in policy decisions. The pradhan is the person who is connected to the people in villages. Why does the smallest decision have to be taken by the senior-most person? We need to build architecture to enable pradhans to develop policy at the lower level."
The only other question was by Dhruv Sawhney of Triveni Engineering, who asked the Congress leader how India's water and waste water problems could be solved. Gandhi did not really answer the question. Instead, he blamed political parties, including his own party for not addressing the country's problems. Pacing up and down before a rapt audience, Gandhi said that when it comes to selecting MLA and MP candidates, all the political parties together have just about 200 people deciding which people will become MLAs and MPs.
More animated by now, Gandhi said that Indians have a tendency to talk about individuals. "Many people predict the probability of me becoming the prime minister, when I will get married ... All that is irrelevant. It is not important what I think, it is important what a billion people think. We are more powerful than we think."
Gandhi, 42, was called to present his economic agenda to the captains of corporate India. The message in his 28-minute speech to that audience was that the government cannot solve all the problems that beset the country. "If you expect Manmohanji to solve your problems, then keep expecting. You people have to take the lead and create jobs. The government's job is to improve the playing field and provide a rule-based, impartial governance system."
Although Gandhi's speech was scheduled to begin at 10.45 am, the venue, New Delhi's Ashok hotel, was filling up by 9 am.
Clad in a white kurta pyjama, Gandhi made his address amidst tight security. He began by explaining the changing image of India over the years. He said that when he was studying in the US in 1991, nobody took India seriously. "People used to laugh at us. But the situation has changed now."
Referring to notes on a piece of paper, he then talked about the huge migration across the country and how there is a need to channelise the ideas and dreams of these migrants in the right direction.
He briefly mentioned the need for infrastructure, road connectivity, ports and power before finally moving on to his pet topic of empowering the poor.
The session was attended by the who's who of the corporate world. Among those in attendance were industrialists Adi Godrej, Sunil Mittal, Rahul Bajaj, Shivinder Singh, S. Gopalakrishnan and Naveen Jindal, who is also an MP. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the Prime Minister's advisor on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, Sam Pitroda, were also present.
Moving on, the Congress party leader criticised the country's prevailing education system. "A large part of our education is based on defunct ideas. The problem with our universities is that they are working in silos and not connected to the industry."
Between presenting some broad-brush solutions to the country's problems, Gandhi did not miss the opportunity to praise his party and the initiatives taken by the Congress-led central government. "Congress is inclusive by design. Poor people have a problem of identification, which is being tackled by Nandan (Nilekani, UIDAI chief)."
The speech was followed by a much-longer Q&A session, though there were just two questions asked. The first, by Ajay Shriram of DCM Shriram Consolidated, was about the equation between central and state governments. Gandhi responded by saying that it all boils downs to how much power is given to people at the local level. "Our political structure is not designed to include pradhans in policy decisions. The pradhan is the person who is connected to the people in villages. Why does the smallest decision have to be taken by the senior-most person? We need to build architecture to enable pradhans to develop policy at the lower level."
The only other question was by Dhruv Sawhney of Triveni Engineering, who asked the Congress leader how India's water and waste water problems could be solved. Gandhi did not really answer the question. Instead, he blamed political parties, including his own party for not addressing the country's problems. Pacing up and down before a rapt audience, Gandhi said that when it comes to selecting MLA and MP candidates, all the political parties together have just about 200 people deciding which people will become MLAs and MPs.
More animated by now, Gandhi said that Indians have a tendency to talk about individuals. "Many people predict the probability of me becoming the prime minister, when I will get married ... All that is irrelevant. It is not important what I think, it is important what a billion people think. We are more powerful than we think."
Rahul Gandhi bemuses with 'beehive' speech to India Inc
NEW DELHI |
(Reuters) - Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and a contender for prime minister in 2014, on Thursday offered a broad vision of 21st century India in his first major speech to business leaders that critics called vague and rambling.
Addressing a gathering of Indian business tycoons in New Delhi, Gandhi did not touch on any of the issues bedevilling Asia's third-largest economy such as high inflation, decelerating investment, a ballooning current account deficit and red tape that ties up infrastructure projects for years.
Instead, in a speech that was long on imagery and anecdotes but short on specifics, he called for a revamp of the political system to better respond to the needs of India's 1.2 billion people, a closer relationship between government and big business and unleashing the potential of the Indian "beehive".
"Millions of Indians are brimming with energy. We are now sitting on an unprecedented tide of transformation. This tremendous movement of people and ideas are going to define this country in the 21st century," Gandhi said.
The hour-long address to the Confederation of Indian Industry, which was broadcast on all major television stations, was closely watched by economists, diplomats and investors keen to gain insight into the thinking of the shy and secretive 42-year-old lawmaker, who rarely speaks in public and shuns the limelight.
"He wants to change the political system and how it works which is an interesting thought. But the important part is execution about which he is vague or does not yet have answers," said Anjali Verma, economist at PhillipCapital.
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the speech confused, while the top trending topic on Twitter in India while Gandhi was speaking was #PappuCII. Pappu is a derogatory colloquial Hindi word meaning "dumb kid".
Many had expected Gandhi to use the platform of the CII event to outline his economic vision for a country with ambitions to become a major power but still struggling to uplift hundreds of millions of people mired in poverty.
"I think he was very honest and made the points straight from his heart," said Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice-chairman and managing director of Bharti Enterprises, one of India's biggest business groups, who was in the audience.
But, he added: "Ultimately, whoever leads the country will need an economic agenda."
While Gandhi has not said whether he wants to become prime minister, he is the face of the ruling Congress party's 2014 election campaign and is widely seen as his party's leading candidate for prime minister, if it does well in the polls.
He ridiculed the national guessing game over whether or not he will become prime minister, saying: "It is all smoke. The only relevant question in this country is how can we give our people voice. It is not important what Rahul Gandhi thinks, its important what a billion Indians think."
DYNASTIC POLITICS
Gandhi's rare public utterances mean that there is a huge interest in what he says when he does speak. Little is known about what he thinks about the important issues of the day and what he would do if he were to become prime minister.
His father, grandmother and great-grandfather were prime ministers and his mother, who is head of the ruling Congress party, is arguably the most powerful politician in India.
The Congress party appointed him vice president in January in an effort to boost his profile. But he has been overshadowed by Narendra Modi, the charismatic pro-business leader of the BJP who harbours prime ministerial ambitious and has been loudly touting his record as chief minister of Gujarat, a state with a booming economy.
Indian media often present the 2014 election as a face-off between Rahul, best known for his famous last name, and Modi, who has been lauded by Indian corporate leaders and foreign companies for his business-friendly policies.
The mixed reception for Gandhi's speech is likely to renew speculation about possible Congress party alternatives for prime minister. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has not ruled out serving a third term, while Finance Minister P. Chidambaram is also frequently mentioned as a possible candidate.
(Additional reporting by Subhadip Sircar in Mumbai and Anurag Kotoky in New Delhi; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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