New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday made it clear that he isn’t running after the post of PM.
Interacting with party MPs, Gandhi said, “Asking me whether you want to be Prime Minister is a wrong question,” adding that his focus is on nation-building and he wants the Congress to give the voiceless a voice. He said the decision-making process should not be confined to a handful of leaders. Party workers at the block, district, state and national levels need to be involved, he stressed.
He also hinted that he has no immediate marriage plans, saying, “If I get married and have children, I will be status quoist and will like my children to take my place.”
Gandhi said the high command culture started in the 70s when “my grandmother was under severe assault...I knew her and if I would have been in her place, I would have also done likewise”.
'Gandhiji is my guru'
He gave ample signals that he wanted to change the organisation drastically from top to bottom and his ideal was Mahatma Gandhi and he believed in the “Nishkam Karma” of the Gita.
Calling the Mahatma “my guru”, he said Gandhiji could inspire people as also the rank and file of Congress as they knew that he was not one who is hankering after power.
Gandhi said he could take a holistic view of the scenario as regards party politics because "I am a parachute", implying he owed his leadership to the membership of the first family in Congress.
He regretted that all political parties have been designed in a manner that prevents the youth from getting key positions at a time when they are seeking a greater say in political affairs.
Stressing that he wanted to change the picture in this regard, he suggested that this was necessary to avoid an "explosion".
"At one point, the pressure from the youth will be such that there will be an explosion," he said.
When an MP spoke about the change brought about by Barack Obama in US politics, he said that has happened in America because it is a developed state where systems have evolved. "Obama will not have an effect here," he said.
Gandhi, who has eight years of experience in politics, said that the ideas of applying western model in Indian conditions will not work. He said this he came to know while interacting with people in the villages. He ignored a question on whether he planned to visit Wharton.
The Congress Vice President's remarks on the issue of PM candidate came at a time when BJP is experiencing a keen tussle among its top leaders with a section with the party pitching for Narendra Modi.
Next: It’s your call on better PM: Pranab
It’s your call on better PM: Pranab
Onboard Special Aircraft: “You have your own assessment,” President Pranab Mukherjee said late on Tuesday being asked about Narendra Modi’s comments that he would have been a better choice as Prime Minister than Manmohan Singh.
The cryptic one liner came when reporters accompanying him back from his three-day state visit to Bangladesh put the poser.
Modi had while addressing the BJP conclave on Sunday suggested that Mukherjee, a veteran Congress leader who became the President last July, could have been a better Prime Minister.
“Had Pranab Mukherjee been made the Prime Minister in place of Manmohan Singh then perhaps there would not have suffered so much damage as he is more connected to the ground, understands the problems and can think about the solutions,” he had said.