Historian Ramachandra Guha on Friday described Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi as a “fifth-generation dynast”. He also declared that the former Congress president has no chance in Indian politics against “hard-working and self-made” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A “fifth-generation dynast”
Speaking at Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhikode, the historian remarked that Kerala did an unfortunate thing by electing Gandhi to Parliament. He further said that Gandhi is a decent fellow and very well-mannered but the “young India does not want a fifth-generation dynast”.
“I keep nothing negative against Rahul Gandhi. He is a kind fellow, very well-mannered. But young India does not want a fifth-generation dynast. If you Malayalis make the mistake of re-electing Rahul Gandhi in 2024 too, you are simply handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi,” said Guha.
Rahul Gandhi, who in 2019 general elections lost from his family bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, had won from the Wayanad seat in Kerala. Addressing the crowd, full of Keralites, he said, “Kerala, you have done many wonderful things for India, but one of the disastrous things you did was to elect Rahul Gandhi to the parliament.”
Ram Guha-
"Kerala, why did you elect 5th generation dynast like Rahul Gandhi? Don't make mistake of re-electing him in 2024.
Modi is self made man, hard working, never takes holidays in Europe" pic.twitter.com/fKLHkrPEUa
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) January 18, 2020
A Self Made Narendra Modi
The 61-year-old praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Guha said that the PM has administrative experience and is self-made. “Narendra Modi’s great asset is that he is not Rahul Gandhi. He is self-made. He has run a state for 15 years, he has managerial experience, he is incredibly hard-working and he never takes holidays in Europe. Believe me, I am saying all this in all sincerity,” he said.
The historian further said that even if Rahul Gandhi was ‘much more sensible, more hard-working, never took a holiday in Europe, as a fifth-generation dynast he still will be at a disadvantage against a self-made person’, the 61-year-old author said.
Guha didn’t leave Congress president Sonia Gandhi too who, he said, reminded him of the “late Mughal dynasty” and how indifferent they were of the state of their kingdom.
India is democratic and less feudal
“India is becoming more democratic and less feudal, and the Gandhis just don’t understand this. You (Sonia) are in Delhi, your kingdom is shrinking more and more but still, your puppets are telling you that you are still the Badshah (ruler),” he said.
Moreover, he valued his teacher and remarked Indian sociologist Andre Beteille to describe the story of Nehru-Gandhi family as a classic “reversal of the famous Biblical injunction”: the sins of the father will be visited upon seven successive generations.
“In the Nehru’s case, it is the errors of the seven consecutive generations have been re-visited upon Nehru… look at the national debate today. Why is Nehru evoked every time? Why does Modi always say Nehru ne Kashmir main yeh Kiya, China mein yeh Kiya, Triple Talaq mein yeh Kiya (Neheru did this in Kashmir, did this in China, did this in Triple Talaq)… because Rahul Gandhi is there. Now if Rahul Gandhi leaves, Modi has to talk about his theories and why they failed,” he said. Source
Twitter reactions
Whether you like it OR not, But he is saying the fact.#RamachandraGuha's Sharp Remarks On #RahulGandhi, Says #PM "Self-Made" https://t.co/VozKMU2b1D via @ndtv
— Yogi (@yogendrapal72) January 18, 2020
@Ram_Guha nicely said . He is not good enough for politics https://t.co/nQ4igMTb5X
— khan (@not2mention01) January 18, 2020
He just said he's not as hard-working as NaMo, and he has come from a legacy, In a nutshell.
I think @Ram_Guha is somewhat true about it, he still needs to prove the worth if we count him as potential alternative.— Vivek (@heunplugged) January 18, 2020
first time i agree with @Ram_Guha
— Ankur parekh (@ankurp2591) January 18, 2020
Absurd idea that merely being a Dynast should bar him from standing for political positions !@Ram_Guha seems to be conveniently ignoring, why an active Gandhi / Nehru scion is still relevant at the forefront in @INCIndia ?
Or maybe he forgets the brief era, post-Rajiv Gandhi ? https://t.co/Dq48lRgsku— PunIntended (@PunIntended8) January 18, 2020
#Guha – Translation – People have been accusing me of being a rabid sycophant of Gandhi and Nehru. So, let me write some lies in a media outlet that has a PhD in lies to show that I am an objective person ?
— Success Ladders – Author Coaching (@thejendra) January 18, 2020
Had an impression that @Ram_Guha could be a man with some intelligence
His current statement on Rahul is nothing less than a self-made call for the destruction of his own image throughout Indian society. No wonder he's not a literate, explaining why he was assaulted by police
— Dr. Sri Radhanath (@Radhanath15) January 18, 2020
