On THE Interview

There would be very few of you who would remain unaware of the recent blockbuster which came out on TV. No, I am not referring to any film, I am referring to the interview given by the one and only Rahul Gandhi. In spite of all statements to the contrary Congressmen all over the country, indeed the world must have had at least one face-palm moment when they saw the interview. I have never been either for or against Arnab Goswami. However today I am thankful to him for having shown what Rahul Gandhi is like. The Congress would have liked him to be in the limelight. However the result has been that he has been in the flood light of ridicule and disbelief.

It beggars belief to think that the INC wants this person to lead the nation. He has no administrative experience whatsoever. He has not even been a minister. Experience to rule the nation does not come by doing party work and by staying in village homes for a few days. The only major thoughts he seems to have to "change the system" and "empower women". We have no clue if he has any clue about how to do this.

After seeing the interview one is hard pressed not to think that there is a serious coterie in the INC which is out to push Rahul Gandhi into power for its own reasons, for, the hand behind the throne is always more powerful than the throne itself, as it is neither visible nor accountable.

I will not go too much into detail, and will touch on but a few things.

1. The guy keeps referring to himself in the third person. What, is he royalty?

2. He reports to the PM and hence does not communicate to the press? This guy claims to want to "change the system" and he does not even speak to the press enough! Well he is in good company. Sonia Gandhi is not exactly known for her talkative nature. Manmohan Singh, I think, has given 2 press conferences which were supposed to be frank and open. They turned out to be whining sessions, to absolve himself of all blame. Please correct me if I am wrong.

3. Change the system? There is a book called India, A Portrait, by Patrick French. The maximum no of youth who have gotten in through family connections are in the Congress, this is democracy for you.

4. A guy at his level, who is constantly in the spotlight would have expected to be prepared for the interview. The safest option is to vet the questions beforehand and be ready with the answers. At least he would not have stammered on screen and be seen sweating so much!

5. Talking about concentration of power - Indira Gandhi is probably the best example of this independent India has ever seen, not taking into account her son, Sanjay (Indira Gandhi was accused of having a kitchen cabinet, however this is possibly a greater insult to accused of, than that of being a dictator). Interesting that Rahul did not mention this. He has seen his father and grandmother die. He was born in 1970. He probably saw but was too young to remember the Emergency period in the mid 70s, or rather he conveniently forgot.

6. "When a big tree falls, the earth shakes" seems to be an insensitive remark. This was made by Rajiv Gandhi at the time of the anti-Sikh riots. What was his intent? Many people see it as condoning the riots. However Mani Shankar Aiyar of the INC has a different view. You be the judge.

We can go on like this. However I would only be boring you with details of what you have already laughed about. Also there was a wickedly funny joke I saw online about a quip from Sanjay Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi in heaven. However out of fear of my blog being blocked by the powers that be (as a few sites have) I will refrain from quoting it here.

I think today if not tomorrow, he will, fortunately or unfortunately, become the leader of this nation. I only pray that by the time he reaches that stage he is wiser and more capable than he is now!

On MMS and Rahul Gandhi

A post after two months! Well, this was prompted by Manmohan Singh's latest press conference and an editorial in the The Hindu. 

MMS has confirmed he will not be running for any more terms in office. Let us analyze a few things.

1. He is 81 years old (though he looks much younger)

2. The image of MMS and his government are possibly at the lowest level since he came to power. Possibly even die-hard INC supporters are extremely pessimistic of UPA 3 materializing.

3. There has long been a clamour in the INC to make Rahul Gandhi the PM candidate

So does this declaration raise any eyebrows? I think not. Moving beyond this revelatory or prophetic declaration, MMS has also said it would be a disaster for the country if Narendra Modi becomes the PM. He also believes Rahul Gandhi has excellent credentials, and one asks what are they? This person has not held a single position of responsibility in the government till date. His interactions with the public and corporate India, time and again, reveal his immaturity. This is the person who the current PM thinks has excellent credentials? A person with zero experience? This, my dear readers, I believe will be disastrous for the country, Rahul Gandhi, God forbid, becoming the PM.

Also this press conference like the one earlier seemed to be all about exculpating himself. The UPA government is accused of serious levels of corruption. As was the case the last time the PM once again mentioned political compulsions. He seems to be saying, I am clean, I cannot manage the system around me!

Also do our politicians have no regard for the judicial process? Narendra Modi has recently been cleared of all charges of complicity in the Gujarat riots, still the Congress persists in blaming him for the riots. Whatever the truth, this is a person who has has ample political experience. He has also been the Chief Minister of a state since 2001, hence he has ample political and administrative experience. Between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi I don't think anyone should have any illusions as to who would make a better PM!

If I am not mistaken MMS is a Parliament member from Assam. The present Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi wants to change the time zone to take advantage of different sunrise and sunset times there. The Hindu pointed out that this would add another dimension to the way in which the north east is already held to be different and instead proposes that IST be changed to be 6 hours ahead of UTC in place of 5h 30m like it is now. My question - is it not simpler to change the working hours? Office hours in summer and winter would be different!