The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha described the Parliamentary proceedings is a “pleasant war” of ideas and words
By: Shajil Kumar
THE OPPOSITION is the voice of the people, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said in Dallas, Texas, underscoring that its main focus is to raise issues concerning the people after understanding their perspectives “carefully” and “sensitively”.
Gandhi, who is the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, is on a four-day unofficial trip to the US.
During an interaction with students at the University of Texas in Dallas on Sunday, Gandhi said, “Opposition at its heart is the voice of people, there is a whole sequence of events that go on, but what you generally think about is where and how can I raise the issues of the people of India.”
“You are thinking from an individual perspective, and also from (a) group perspective, industry perspective, farmer perspective, the important thing is you do it sensitively and after listening and understanding carefully,” he added.
Talking about Parliamentary proceedings, Gandhi described them as a “pleasant war” of ideas and words.
“You go to the Parliament in the morning, then it’s like a war, you go in and then you fight, it’s a pleasant war, it’s reasonably fun at times, can be nasty also, but it’s a war of ideas and words,” he said.
“When you are new to politics, you see an issue, you think that is an issue, but when you go into details, you realise that there is nuance and complexity, so understanding that nuance and then planning your day according to that, that’s how it generally works,” he said.
Respect for skills lacking
Millions of people with skills are being sidelined in India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said and referred to Eklavya from Mahabharata, who had to chop off his thumb on his guru’s demand.
During an interaction with students of Texas University on Sunday, Gandhi said that India does not lack skills, it lacks respect for skills.
“Have you heard of the Eklavya story? If you want to understand what is happening in India, it is millions and millions of Eklavya stories every single day. People with skills are being sidelined—they are not being allowed to operate or thrive, and this is happening everywhere,” the official X account of the Congress quoted Gandhi as saying.
In the Mahabharata, Dronacharya, an expert in military warfare, asks Ekalavya, who is from a tribal community, for the impossible sacrifice of his right thumb as ‘guru dakshina’ when he seeks to learn archery from him.
“Many people say that India has a problem with skills. I don’t think India has a problem with skills. I think… India does not have respect for people who possess skills,” Gandhi said.
In his address, Gandhi asserted that India’s potential can be unleashed by respecting skills and supporting people with skills financially and technologically. “You won’t unleash India’s power by empowering just 1-2 per cent of the population,” he said.
Gandhi is on a four-day unofficial trip to the US, during which he will interact with the members of the Indian diaspora and youths with stops in Dallas, Texas and Washington DC. He also plans to meet lawmakers and senior officials of the US government during his visit to Washington DC, beginning Monday.
Manufacturing sector
Asserting that India, the US and other countries in the West are facing the problem of unemployment while China is not, as it is dominating global production, Gandhi underscored the need to focus on manufacturing in India.
He said the West, America, Europe and India have “given up on the idea of production” and handed it to China.
“The act of production creates jobs. What we do, what the Americans do, what the West does, is we organise consumption… India has to think about the act of production and organising production…”
“It’s not acceptable that India simply says, okay, manufacturing, what you call manufacturing or production, is going to be the preserve of the Chinese. It’s going to be the preserve of the Vietnamese. It’s going to be the preserve of Bangladesh,” Gandhi said.
“The only way to provide jobs for a large number of people is to start producing things, to start manufacturing,” he said.
“Until we do that, we will face high levels of unemployment. And frankly, it’s not sustainable.”
“… If we carry on down this path of forgetting about manufacturing, you’re going to see massive social problems coming in India and in the United States and Europe. The polarisation of our politics is because of this…” he added.
He also stressed the need to encourage vocational training to bridge the gap between the business and education systems and flagged the “ideological capture” of the latter.
In his address, Gandhi also spoke about new tech taking people’s existing jobs. “If you position yourself properly, it can be an opportunity; if you position yourself poorly, you could be in trouble,” he said.
“What happens is that while technology does take jobs away from some people, it also creates opportunities for others.”
“I don’t believe that jobs will vanish entirely, but rather that different types of jobs will be created and different sectors will benefit,” he said.
Humility missing in politics
Love, respect and humility are missing in Indian politics, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said in his address to the Indian American community in Texas, where he also criticised the RSS for believing that India is “one idea”.
Gandhi made the remarks on Sunday in Dallas during his first interaction with the Indian diaspora after becoming Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha this summer.
“RSS believes that India is one idea. We believe that India is a multiplicity of ideas,” he said.
“Very much like the United States, we believe everybody should be allowed to participate. We believe that everybody should be allowed to dream, (and) everybody should be given space, regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, history,” he said.
“This is the fight. The fight crystallised in the election when millions of people in India clearly understood that the Prime Minister of India was attacking the Constitution of India. Because what I am saying to you is the union of states, respect to languages, respect to religions, respect to traditions, respect to caste. This is all in the Constitution,” Gandhi added.
In his address, Gandhi said his role was to inject values of love, respect and humility into Indian politics.
“I think what is missing in our political systems and across parties is love, respect and humility. Love to all human beings, not necessarily only people of one religion, one community, one caste, one State, or to those who speak one language,” he said.
“Respect to everybody who is trying to build an India, not just the most powerful, but the weakest and humility, not in others, but in oneself. I think that is how I see my own,” he added.
Making an indirect reference to the Lok Sabha results in which the BJP failed to get a majority on its own, Gandhi said, “The people were saying the BJP is attacking our tradition, attacking our language, etc. What they understood was that anybody who is attacking the Constitution of India is also attacking our religious tradition.”
“We saw that immediately, within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP, of the Prime Minister. These are huge achievements. These are huge achievements of the people of India who realised democracy, of the people of India who realised that we are not going to accept an attack on our Constitution. We’re not going to accept an attack on our religion. We’re not going to accept an attack on our States,” he said.
Diaspora a ‘bridge’
Asserting that the US needs India and vice versa, Gandhi said the Indian diaspora is a “bridge” between the two nations.
“In my view, you should travel freely between these two homes. You should bring the idea of India to the United States and the ideas of the United States to India,” Gandhi said in his remarks.
“You have a very important role because the relationship between these two unions is going to determine the future of both” the countries, he said.
Gandhi was on Saturday welcomed by dozens of members of the Indian-American community led by senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda and president of Indian National Overseas Congress, USA, Mohinder Gilzian.
During his trip, Gandhi will interact with the members of the Indian diaspora and youths in Washington, DC, too.
He also plans to meet lawmakers and senior officials of the US government during his visit to Washington DC, beginning Monday. (PTI)