In a strong and passionate defence of the Gandhis – aimed at rebutting Ramachandra Guha’s argument that in the interests of their party and the country, the Gandhis must immediately retire from politics and dissociate from the Congress Party – one of the most senior members of Congress has said the party has complete faith in the Gandhis and that Rahul Gandhi will lead them back to power and make an excellent prime minister.
Salman Khurshid, a former foreign minister and law minister and a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee, said Guha was being “paternalistic” in presuming to know what is in the best interest of Congress. Khurshid adds that Ramachandra Guha’s view will not matter at all to the vast majority of Congress members.
In an interview to The Wire, Khurshid responded to the main reasons cited by Ramachandra Guha for wanting the Gandhis to leave politics and the Congress party.
First, he disputed the claim they do not have a coherent ideology and said the so-called evidence cited by Ramachandra Guha, that Sonia and Rahul are principled secularists on one day but promote soft Hindutva the next, ignores the fact secularism in India is not a clinical separation between church and state but equal treatment and equal respect for all religions. Salman Khurshid would not accept that Raul Gandhi’s presentation of himself as a ‘janeu dhaari Brahmin’ or a ‘Shiv bhakt’ amounted, in the present political circumstances, to soft Hindutva.
Responding to Guha’s second reason for wanting the Gandhis to leave politics i.e. the claim they are incapable of hard work, Salman Khurshid strenuously disputed his argument that by taking a break in the middle of the Bihar campaign to go on a holiday to Himachal Pradesh Rahul showed lack of dedication and commitment. Khurshid said Rahul did not take a holiday. He took a vacation. He insisted on this distinction.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a holiday as “an extended period of recreation or a break from work”. The same dictionary defines a vacation as “a fixed period of cessation from work”.
Salman Khurshid also seemed to argue that the vacation Rahul Gandhi took was necessary to reinvigorate his campaigning. He would not accept that both Congress critics and allies (like the RJD) had pointed to this vacation when commenting on Congress’s poor performance.
Khurshid also refused to accept Guha’s third reason for wanting the Gandhis to immediately leave politics i.e. that Congress under the dynastic control of the Gandhis cannot match up to or challenge with the BJP. He said several Indian political parties had families at the top and this was also true of several professions in India, particularly Bollywood and Cricket.
Asked by The Wire how he responds to Ramachandra Guha’s point that Rahul Gandhi is the reason why talented leaders have left Congress, because he has blocked their political advancement, Salman Khurshid spoke in particular about Jyotiraditya Scindia. Calling Scindia a friend, he said Rahul Gandhi had enabled Scindia to rise to great heights in Congress and it’s not true that Scindia’s ambitions were in any way checked or blocked by Rahul Gandhi.
Towards the end of the interview Salman Khurshid forcefully and repeatedly asserted that Congressmen have faith in the Gandhis and believe that, if he is willing to take up the job again, Rahul Gandhi would be best suited to be Congress President. Salman Khurshid said Rahul Gandhi has the talent and capacity to lead Congress back to power. He also said Rahul Gandhi would make an excellent prime minister.
