In controversial comments, Rahul Gandhi has told US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that growth of “radicalised Hindu groups” posed a bigger threat to the country than militant groups like LeT, according to a leaked American diplomatic cable. Rahul, during a conversation with the envoy at a luncheon hosted by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence in July 2009 in honour of visiting secretary of state Hillary Clinton, also referred to the tensions created by some of the more polarising figures in the BJP such as Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the cable said. “Responding to the ambassador’s query about Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s activities in the region and immediate threat to India, Mr Gandhi said there was evidence of some support for the group among certain elements in India’s indigenous Muslim community,” the cable notes. “However, Gandhi warned, the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community,” it said. The cable dated August 3, 2009 which described Mr Roemer’s luncheon encounter with Mr Gandhi on July 20, 2009, said Mr Gandhi was referring to the tensions created by some of the more polarising figures in the BJP such as Mr Modi. Another secret cable released by WikiLeaks dated February 22, 2010 says that Mr Gandhi’s blunt words against the “Maharashtra chauvinist” party, followed by his visit to Mumbai that came with a local train ride was a public relations bonanza for him.
“Rahul Gandhi’s Mumbai visit and his skirmishing with the Maharashtra chauvinist Shiv Sena party shows he is becoming increasingly sure-footed in his political instincts,” said the cable. According to a cable, after stepping aside in favour of Dr Singh to head the government in 2004, Congress president Sonia Gandhi “felt better” that someone else became PM and did not regret her decision. Stating she is often asked why she turned down the top job, Mrs Gandhi told a visiting US dignitary in New Delhi in 2006 that “I am often asked about this, but tell people that I will write a book some day with the whole story.”
The US embassy in New Delhi was critical of Mrs Gandhi and described CP(M) leader Prakash Karat as an “extortionist” in a cable that discussed the political scenario in November 2007 — days before the Indo-US nuclear agreement was to be debated in Parliament. In the cable, embassy officials described Mrs Gandhi as being “unable to show principled leadership even when it might benefit her party at the polls and reveal Prakash Karat to be the extortionist he is.”
The cable that criticises her and discusses whether the government would be forced to call general elections on the nuclear deal, says: “Mrs Gandhi never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” —PTI