Evolution: Rahul Gandhi delivers powerful call for change

New Congress VP says system must be revamped to meet needs of India’s young population.

JAIPUR: Rahul Gandhi, newly named to the number two post in India’s ruling Congress party, Sunday delivered a powerful call for change to meet the aspirations of the nation’s “young and impatient” population.

“We have to rethink and transform our system and the country,” Rahul Gandhi, 42, told party members as Congress ended a three-day brainstorming session in Jaipur ahead of 2014 elections. Congress must listen to the voice of a “young and impatient” India to ensure they do not feel alienated from the political system, he said, a day after being unanimously voted party vice president.

“Why do a handful of people occupy political space? We don’t believe in empowering people,” he said, adding, “People who are corrupt talk about eradicating corruption, people who disgrace women talk about women’s development.”

Rahul Gandhi’s elevation represents a generational shift in Indian politics in which most of the leaders are over 60, while roughly half of the country’s 1.2 billion population is under 25. The party stopped short of naming him its candidate as premier, amid lingering uncertainty about his political talents and his hitherto apparent reluctance to assume a major political role.

In his speech, Rahul Gandhi sought to dispel doubts about his political commitment, declaring that the “Congress party is now my life.”

While he gave no hint of whether he wants to be a candidate for premier, analysts say it is unlikely any other Congress leader would be fielded and his mother Sonia, who has long been seen grooming him for the post, was now expected to push him to take a bigger role in the party.

“Congress has no other choice. It would be very difficult to name some other person because there would hardly be any consensus,” said Sanjay Kumar, political analyst at the Centre for Study of Developing Societies. The Nehru-Gandhi clan has ruled India for most of its post-independence history and many Congress members cannot conceive of the party without a Gandhi at the helm, he added.



“Congress is trying to transform itself from a grand old party to a brand-new party but it remains to be seen if they can succeed,” said political commentator Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN NEW DELHI)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2013.