Khuswant predicted Rahul's leadership qualities

By Humra Quraishi. Dated: 12/14/2017 5:02:26 PM

"I told him, 'Your cadres are very weak. The BJP has the RSS and the VHP to work for it at the grassroots level. The Congress lacks that.'
He said he agreed with me and that he was already working on this."
Far-sighted Khushwant Singh could see that Rahul Gandhi had the potential to come centre stage. Khushwant had interacted with him and would tell me details of how he found Rahul to be not just earnest but very focused and committed.
And in the book 'Absolute Khushwant' (published in 2010 by Penguin) which Khushwant and I wrote, he had this to detail about Rahul Gandhi:
"I think Rahul is much more talented than his father. He has a vision and that's very important. I'm impressed with him, impressed with the way in which he's conducting himself. He has the right attitude. Even if much of what he does only amounts to gestures, the thinking behind them is right…He has taken on Mayawati in her own territory. It is a brave thing to do. He himself seems to have no caste or class prejudice. What he has been doing in Amethi, staying with the lowest castes and sharing their food - I don't think you can criticise him for that. He is not being patronising; he is highlighting a shameful reality of in our country. Even in the twenty-first century there are untouchables in our society and they live wretched lives…And the manner in which he took on the Shiv Sena in Bombay (February 2010). He lambasted them for attacking non- Maharashtrians and said publicly that Bombay was for all Indians. Then he went to the lion's den and dared them to do the worst. He walked in the streets, travelled by local train. The Shiv Sena goondas failed completely. Hardly any Maharashtrian joined the Shiv Sena protest against Rahul. It was a very well -planned move by Rahul and his advisers. It was good theatre…The young Gandhi is becoming a mature leader. Maybe after the next elections (2014), if his party wins, he may agree to become PM. Or he may still choose not to. He has his priorities right- he is not concerned about position and kursi, but strengthening the Congress party."
In fact, one late afternoon Rahul Gandhi had visited Khushwant at his Sujan Singh Park apartment. This was in 2009…To quote Khushwant on that meet- "Rahul had telephoned sometime last year and said that he wanted to come and see me. He came at the appointed time - 4p.m.- and spent almost an hour in my home. I gave him tea - he said he'd like some tea - and we spoke of politics; about the current situation in general and other things in particular. I told him, "Your cadres are very weak. The BJP has the RSS and the VHP to work for it at the grassroots level. The Congress lacks that."
He said he agreed with me and that he was already working on this. He is seeing to it that the party members are trained and the party built up. I see that he has been concentrating on young workers and he has picked some very talented workers, many of them women. I also told him that during elections, voters have to be wooed and drawn towards the party. I said that the most important thing that he should keep in mind is to resist flatterers and to hold back from accepting any portfolio…We didn't talk about his grandmother or his great grandfather."
THE ENTIRE MAHAUL IS POLLUTED!
After we are over pounding and hounding Mani Shankar Aiyar, sit back and hear those speeches of the likes of Yogi Adityanaths, Sadhvi Niranjans and Giriraj Singhs, Sakshi Maharajs , Sangeet Soms who have used abusive language for the Muslims of the country… The stark reality is that BJP's men get away, all safe and secure even after issuing death threats to the Muslims and even insulting Islam. After all, minister in the Modi cabinet - Ananth Kumar Hedge had not long back uttered on a public platform - "Till Islam is in the world there can be no end to terrorism ."
And BJP MLA from the Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad, T Raja Singh, could get away even after mouthing death threats to all those who come in way of the Ram Temple construction . "If there is anybody who has the guts to say he would stop the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, let him come forward. I challenge that I will behead him."
In fact, even the father of the nation - Mahatma Gandhi - wasn't spared. Not long back, Amit Shah called him "chatur baniya." And there was little hue and cry. After all, who would dare to take on the likes of Amit Shahs!
The list of gutter and abusive utterances by the political rulers of the day is long and ongoing. But they couldn't be bothered. They wouldn't be hauled up; nor hounded or pounded. After all, two sets of rules prevail in today's setup -one for the rulers and the other for us, the hapless masses.
*(Humra Quraishi is a freelance columnist based in Delhi and is currently a visiting Professor in the Academy of Third World Studies in Jamia Milia University).

 

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