Rahul deprecates politics of alienation

Unveils his vision of inclusive development at CII meet

New Delhi (PTI): Virtually pitted in a race against Narendra Modi ahead of next Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday unveiled his vision of inclusive development seeking partnership with corporate India but deprecated the "politics of alienating communities".

In his first structured interaction with India Inc., the 42-year-old Congress leader, widely seen as party's future Prime Minister, spoke at length on his idea of development in which government and industry can build a "brave empowered new India" with inclusiveness and compassion.

He said he was "not a hard-nosed politician" but happened to be in politics by accident of fate and dismissed as "irrelevant" talk about his becoming Prime Minister.A Calling for a partnership that incentivises industry to provide economic gains for the poor and aspiring middle class, Gandhi said the Congress government will ensure a "fair, rules-based and stable environment" for entrepreneurs large and small.

In a free-wheeling interaction laced with anecdotes and personal experience both in India and abroad, the young leader appeared to come hard on BJP, which he did not name. "When you play the politics of alienating communities, you stop the flow of movement of people and ideas-and when that happens we all suffer. Businesses suffer, the seeds of disharmony are sown and the dreams of our people are severely disrupted. Once begun, this damage takes a very long time to reverse. It is very dangerous to leave people behind," Gandhi said.

Maintaining that inclusive growth is a win-win for everybody, he said that the biggest danger is excluding the poor, minorities and dalits. "Anger, hatred and prejudice do not help growth. If you alienate communities, we all suffer," Gandhi said in comments that could be seen as an attack on the Gujarat Chief Minister, who has been accused of indulging in divisive politics.

At the interaction, top corporate leaders including CII President Adi Godrej, Kris Gopalakrishnan of Infosys, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal, Rahul Bajaj, Malvinder Singh and Raghupat Singhania were present in the packed hall.Underlining that Congress is the only party which believes in taking everyone along, Gandhi said the country has witnessed the fastest economic growth under the UPA because it had greatly lowered tensions among communities and fostered harmony.

He said businesses need not compete in the corridors of Raisina Hill but compete on the streets of the towns and villages by innovating better products and services in the environment, which the Congress would create. Speaking about the need for building a strong infrastructure like big roads and power, he said,"Government cannot build this infrastructure alone... We need your help."

Talking of the compact with the business, Gandhi said the industry should commit to play by the rules, protect the environment and respect the rights of people. "We are readying ourselves by developing a new political architecture, which will incorporate in a systemic way all voices, including the voice of business. "I have come here because I believe in you. I believe that this country cannot move forward without you. I have come here because I want to forge a partnership with you, a long-term partnership to take this country forward. Let us work together to build this brave, empowered new India."

Gandhi, who is seen as the Congress' Prime Ministerial candidate, dubbed as a "irrelevant" questions on such matter. "I got press guys asking when you are getting married. Somebody else saying, boss, when are you going to be the Prime Minister. Somebody saying, no your are not going to be PM, somebody say may be you will be PM. There is good possibility.

"These are irrelevant questions. It's all smoke," he said, adding the only relevant question is how to empower one billion people that would solve all problems. Describing his advent into politics as "an accident of fate" and "DNA" linkage with a particular family, Gandhi said, "I am not a hard-nosed politician... I don't want to become." He sought to dispel the notion that "one person charging on a horse" would fix all the problems of the country. "No, it is not like that," he added.

"When I read newspapers, I get frustrated. It is always about a person, it is not about voice of people.... If we expect (Prime Minister) Manmohan Singhji or anybody else to solve everything, you are going to keep expecting. If you want to solve it, you have got to move from the person.... I am irrelevant," he said while laying stress on building structures to deal with problems.

Speaking about the country's economy, he said that the "economic vision must be about more than money. It should not leave anybody outside. It must have compassion. Embracing the excluded is essential for wealth of the nation". He asked the industry to "unleash opportunities" as he observed that the "political system is clogged. It is not responding.

Gandhi drew parallels between the models of governance in India and China. He said China is described a dragon while India is talked about as an elephant. "But it is not elephant but a beehive," Gandhi said.

Faulting the existing systems, Gandhi said these are "closed" as he questioned why all decisions, including smallest ones, should be taken by "the most senior guy". Gandhi said that there are three components -- poor, business, middle class -- for the country's progress. "The country will move forward only when we stitch together all the three components," he said.

Talking about systemic problems, he said there is a tendency of solving problems in incremental manner when there is requirement of "exponential" and "radical steps". He underlined the need for building basic infrastructure like education for empowerment of common people and asked industry to help in creating skills and jobs.

"India is bursting with dreams, optimism and brave ideas. This optimism is the spirit of India. This energy drives the consumption on which businesses are built," the Congress Vice President said and told the industry leaders, I have come here to forge long term partnership to take the country forward."

Drawing the analogy of tide and boat to impress that the development should be all inclusive, the Congress Vice President said, "A rising tide raises all the boats but a rising tide does not raise people, who do not have a boat. A rising tide is not enough."

Gandhi, whose party-led UPA government has come out with right-based schemes like Right to Education, Right to Information and Right to Food, said, "We have to give all the people a basic infrastructure. Give people a basic minimum on all the fronts, job, education, information. That is what we are trying to do with right-based policies."

Emphasising the importance of job creation, he said that in the rural areas of the country, the bottom line is a job and told the India Inc "you are the people, who going to take the lead in the creation of jobs". "Our problem is not joblessness. It is lack of training and skill," he said pitching for a networking between universities and industries.

...invokes Gita, lauds Buddha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday invoked the Bhagavad Gita, the sacred Hindu text, saying compassion was key to peace and development. He noted that Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Buddha, too, reiterated this message. "Our idea is so big that it can take along people outside India also... the idea is compassion... Mahatma Gandhi said it, Buddha said it and it is written in the Gita also," Gandhi said while addressing the annual general body meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at the Banquet Hall of Hotel Ashok. The 42-year-old Gandhi scion said the solution to the complex problems in India and the various resultant conflicts lay in listening to the people who have no voice and having more inclusive policies. "If you could just hear what people have to say... it is good; going to the worst enemy and hearing him (out)," said Gandhi.

...praises Left, Dravidian parties They have village-level heads whose voice is heard New Delhi (IANS): Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday had some words of praise for the Left and the Dravidian parties who, he said, had structures to give voice to people at the village level. "We need to have architectures to involve the 'pradhans' (village heads). The parties are not designed for pradhans. Only the Left and the Dravidian parties have it," Gandhi said. According to Gandhi, the pradhans, who play a crucial role in getting things done at the ground level, do not have a say in the power system, which is run by MPs and legislators. He explained what he termed a dissonance in the system that had occurred after the introduction of the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution that gave power to panchayats, the village-level bodies. The Amethi MP said there were around 700 pradhans under him. "I have the power to make policy but not the pradhans. We need devolution of power," he said.

Rahul comes across as confused leader: BJP New Delhi (PTI): BJP on Thursday described Rahul Gandhi's speech at a CII programme as that of a "confused leader" which reflected fear of the emergence of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in national politics. The main opposition party sought to know why the Congress Vice-President's ideas on dealing with price rise and corruption have not been heeded to by the UPA government which has been in power for nine years. "Rahul's speech reflected that he lives in his own world. He was meant to answer what has happened in the nine years (of UPA rule) but there was no mention of corruption or inflation. Instead of answering questions, he was asking questions. It is a tacit admission that nothing has been done," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters. He maintained that 'Modiphobia' was clearly visible in Rahul's comments. "A confused leader presented his confused ideology which nobody could understand," Javadekar said, adding that the present day problems are due to failures of the Congress. Another party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman wondered why the Congress-led government had not implemented Rahul's ideas till now. "I am very tempted to ask if there were so many different ideas which were articulated, why his own government and party � of which he has been general secretary and is now a vice- president and MP � has not found it fit to adopt his ideas," she said.

Modi not comparable to Rahul Gandhi: CongA 'People understood Rahul, BJP may take more time' New Delhi (PTI): Congress on Thursday brushed aside comparison of Rahul Gandhi with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi saying only those interested in propping up the BJP leader indulged in such acts. Congress spokesman P C Chacko said people heard today what they had been trying to listen to for long. To questions on Gandhi's comparison with Modi, he said the Congress scion had shown through his speech that nobody can be compared to him. On BJP's contention that Gandhi did not refer to steps for tackling inflation and corruption, he said that was the job of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. "The Prime Minister has said how poverty can be eradicated, how growth can be attained, how current account deficit can be controlled, how we are going to achieve 8 per cent growth rate in the next two years," he said. "Rahulji said something more basic. It is unfortunate that some people cannot understand that. BJP may take time to analyse Rahulji's speech," Chacko said.