I love Rahul Gandhi – Because nepotism rules

LONG POST ALERT!
thank you Solilo for the title change suggestion

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Yes..don’t gape..I really do

Whats not to like? and love?

The dimpled smile ..

The vulnerability which they say ‘appeals’ to the women in particular.

The innocence and the naivete that is charming.

The straight from the heart ‘talks’ he gives while conducting press conferences…

*sigh*

Totally drool worthy in short dear friends…totally!

Err politics?

Rahul Baba and Politics ?

Lets wait and watch why don’t we?

This post started off as a reply to a comment . ( Dhiren’s and the Dude’s Rakesh ie..:D )

I am A-Okay with Rahul Baba. Honest!
But this new view that Rahul Baba is looking decent now all of a sudden after this win is just not going down my throat at all.

I mean then the whole point of being anti – dynastic is lost isn’t it?

If we go by the ‘looks decent ‘ (translated to mean that he is a ‘good/human being perhaps? ) argument, then who doesn’t seem decent?

I mean even Lalu’s son seems pretty decent…

So does Advani’s daughter for that matter…

Who doesn’t?

Which Gandhi didn’t seem decent till now?

The ones who have been in power till now that is….

So what is the problem you might ask?

The problem dear friend is that I abhor dynastic politics.

In my book its ..come up the hard way or come up even if you are filthy rich but don’t come up the dynastic way..that I cannot stomach.

Amazing isn’t it how we Indians seem to justify everything at the end of the day?

The chalta hai attitude irks me.

Coz then, why even bother at all?

Anyone who is decent gets a shot at politics!

Oh! Sorry! Anyone who is from the dynasty gets a shot at the highest or one of the highest offices in India!

Of course the shot earlier used to be instantaneous, now to maintain the illusion in the face of all the public criticism Baba and Baby logs are required to maintain at least a facade if nothing else for at least five or ten or more years…all the while we are told that they are working at the ‘grassroots’ level…

I can only shake my head and say WTH!

Do excuse my cynicism…

The andhon mein kaana raja is something I have to bear but not out of choice…NEVER out of choice..in this country where the blind are leading the blind..I have no choice but to suffer certain questionable choices…

What has Rahul Gandhi done till now ?

I am not opposed to Rahul Gandhi, the person.

I am opposed to Rahul Gandhi the CROWN PRINCE.

I am opposed to Rahul Gandhi PM- in- waiting.

I am opposed to Rahul Gandhi, the ‘messiah’ of the poor. (And while we are on the topic of the ‘poor’ funny isn’t it? How Indira Daadi (Rahul’s that is)  gave the very same slogan Garibi Hatao? And that a certain number of years oops! decades later the Congress still has the same slogan? Anyway…on to the next point)

I am opposed to this going ga ga over him. Going ga-ga at this time.This moment.This year.

For, what has he done exactly that should be credited to him?( NREGA is Rahul’s brainchild? I mean The best planners/developers/ economists struggle with such ideas and here is this guy who knew almost magically that this scheme would work? So when we say Rahul has worked with NREGA what we actually mean to say is that NREGA is an idea of someone else..but Rahul Baba well…being what he is is, in the limelight and must have gotten the funds for this pronto! The Gandhi name does do that. Things start magically happening all by themselves in ths red tape bureaucratic country of ours the moment the Gandhi name is uttered. )

I am opposed to the fact that he is being given the credit for a win that is actually Dr Singh’s (?) (Btw one does hope that Manmohan Singh will at least have a voice now)

Uptil now we have seen senior leaders (if one can call them leaders that is) touching madam’s feet…

Hell!Arjun Singh with one leg in the grave touches her feet!

So now should I be prepared to see leaders vying with each other to touch Rahul Baba’s feet too?

Or have they started already?

This is how sycophants are born…

Going by the ‘decent argument’ one wonders why the opposition to dynasty at all?

Am I as well as others who oppose dynastic politics fools?

Let me echo Happy Kitten’s views

Rahul: as usual we hear songs of praise for him from aspiring politicians (after all the power still rests with the dynasty) , but let us not forget that he is not fit enough for a leader or even a minister.

Is this a repeat of Animal farm?

Everyone is equal but some are more equal than others?

Dynastic politics gives birth to sycophancy…

Dynastic politics seeps into a country’s blood and makes it vulnerable…

Dynastic politics is dangerous by any measure…

You know what?

I am now beginning to believe that maybe dynasticism (if there is such a word or else we probably will invent it or have invented it already) runs in our blood.

Maybe we will never rise above the servile attitude…

Maybe we are getting exactly what we deserve…

Maybe dynasticism is exactly what India’s problem is .. India as a collective whole refuses to face this problem…

Bhutan wants to go the democratic way!

While India …what are we doing?

We want to go ‘their’ way!

Rofl!!

Gets my goat this does! (Solilo, thank you darl for this new phrase)

Does  it not seem absurd to you that one family has been running one party in a democratic country since generations?

So the conclusion is

a) The party is not democratic.

b) The party is democratic and it has ‘chosen’(elected?)   these Gandhi leaders because they were so damn capable! ROFL!

c) The party is one where they follow the hereditary concept…you know the kings used to rule in earlier times…and then their heirs used to be the next in line…same concept!

Simple isn’t it?

Democracy! Versus Dynastic rule

Or is it Democracy + Dynastic Rule?

You decide…

Should I also be prepared to hear that Priyanka also looks ’ decent’?

Hence qualified for India politics? I too gave my aye for Priyanka at a blog. Coz well if daughter.Sister darling is that interested in politics then she might as well join it.

Indians seem to love the word Virasat…why not extend it to politics as well eh ?

And no it is not just the Nehru-Gandhi Khandaan that is guilty of it but so many others too..and all of them deserve equal condemnation!

Amit of India Uncut writes ….(Amit’s words in italics)

Many years ago, before the satellite TV revolution, there used to be a video newsmagazine called Newstrack that I rather enjoyed. There is one scene from it that I still remember. If memory serves me right, it began with a shot of the bottom of Devi Lal’s sports shoes as he reclined on a garden chair, his foot rested on some kind of support. (I could be wrong, but I vaguely remember he wore a banyan and a dhoti on top.) An interview began, and the interviewer asked him why he had made his son, Om Prakash Chautala, the chief minister of Haryana. Devi Lal replied:
”Tho kya Bhajan Lal ke chhore ko banaaoo?”

An English translation —“Then shall I make Bhajan Lal’s son the chief minister?” –cannot match the rustic delight of it. I loved that riposte, and remember it still, because it was a rare moment of honesty from an Indian politician. Devi Lal could have said that his son was a fine leader, and had served the people of Haryana. He could have said that it was a democratic decision by the party. But his statement made no pretence of denying what we all already know: Politicians are motivated by nothing other than a lust to power, and once they acquire it, they want to pass it on, like a material possession, to their progeny

Now imagine Sonia Gandhi, asked why Rahul Gandhi has been elevated in the Congress Party, saying: “Tho kya LK Advani ke chhori ko banaaoo?”

ROFL!!!

I can just about imagine it too .

Young Rahul has received many fulsome tributes recently, but has no political achievements to his credit, and hasn’t come up in the party the hard way. (Unless waiting is considered hard, as it might well be for a crown prince.) But no one in the Congress Party will have the cojones to admit that Gandhi’s position comes from Gandhi’s name, and nothing else. The language of politics is couched in doublespeak, and Indian politics is all about double standards. Dynastic politics is not the only example of this, and it is certainly not restricted to the Congress Party.

A list should suffice (surfed and found a wholelist! Voila!

(I have not been able to link this site.Please give me the link and I will promptly do it.)

Jawaharlal Nehru

Indira Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi, Varun Gandhi

Who’s next – Raihan and Miraya (Priyanka Gandhi’s children)??

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S.B.Chavan

Ashok Chavan

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M.Karunanidhi (Tamil Nadu)

M.K.Stalin, Murasoli Maran, Dayanidhi Maran

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Laloo Prasad Yadav (Bihar)

Rabri Devi

(his son perhaps is next?that is if Laluji can manage to save his own seat )***********

Vijayraje Scindia (Madhya Pradesh)

Madhavrao Scindia, Vasundhara Raje Scindia (Rajasthan), Yashodhara Raje Scindia

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Dushyant Singh

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Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla (Madhya Pradesh)

Shyama Charan Shukla and Vidya Charan Shukla

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Devi Lal (Haryana)

Om Prakash Chautala

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Mulayam Singh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh)

Akhilesh Singh Yadav

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Rajesh Pilot (Rajasthan)

Sachin Pilot

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Biju Patnaik (Orissa)

Naveen Patnaik

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S.Bangarappa (Karnataka)

Vasant Bangarappa

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R.Gundu Rao (Karnataka)

Dinesh Gundu Rao

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K.Karunakaran (Kerala)

K.Muralidharan and Padmaja Venugopal

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Sharad Pawar (Maharashtra)

Supriya Sule

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Jagjivan Ram (Uttar Pradesh)

Meira Kumar

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Charan Singh (Uttar Pradesh)

Ajit Singh

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Sheikh Abdullah (Jammu & Kashmir)

Farooq Abdullah

Omar Abdullah

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M.G.Ramachandran (Tamil Nadu)

Janaki Ramachandran

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N.T.Rama Rao (Andhra Pradesh)

Chandrababu Naidu, Daggubati Purandareswari

Have I leftout anyone?

Edited to add :- (Saritha has given these names) Thanks Saritha

Y.S.Rajashekar reddy (AP chief minister)
Y.Jagan mohan reddy (Son)

T.Chandrashekar rao (TRS)
T.Tarakarama Rao (son)

Rahul Verma has given these names below. Thank you Rahul .

YS Rajashekhara Reddy: YS Jaganmohan Reddy (Won from Cuddapah)
N Chandrababu Naidu: N Lokesh (Being ‘groomed’ at Stanford to enter AP politics)

Sucharita has given these names below.. Thanks Sucharita.

Bal Thackeray  (Maharashtra)

Uddhav Thackeray

Raj Thackeray

Solilo has given these names below.Thanks Solilo

Beant Singh (Late CM of Punjab)

Ravneet Singh Bittu (Grandson)

Late CM Beant Singh’s grandson Ravneet Singh Bittu, hand picked by Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, won from Anandpur Sahib.

He is also Punjab Youth Congress President.

Happy Kitten has shared these names.Thanks HK

K.M Mani (Kerala)

Jose K. Mani(son) whom we hear will be given a portfolio.

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Rahul Gandhi says….
The youth want to join politics but don’t know the way. Once they enter politics, they don’t find it clean. They are confused about politics and it looks as if there is a wall between them and politics. We have to break this wall,’ Gandhi said while addressing a gathering of the party’s district chiefs and grassroots workers at Ramlila Maidan here.

‘Once they (youth) enter, they face many problems in moving ahead. At times money power is used and sometimes nepotism blocks the way. They say that they want to work but their work is not recognised. Until we solve all these issues, youth energy cannot be used,’ he said.

‘We should tap energy of youth in building the nation. But for this, we have to open our closed doors,’ he said.

I appreciate the beautiful sentiments dude..but err…ermm do you see any irony in your own words?

BENJAMIN DISRAELI, England’s first and only Jewish prime minister, once said, “In a progressive country change is constant; change is inevitable.” But, I don’t think this applies to Indian politics because the scourge of nepotism has never left the centre stage of Indian politics. It’s constant.

Our political parties, while fighting tooth and nail to perpetrate their kinds of rule in their local strongholds, are never interested in spending time and energy to democratise their internal systems. It’s because of the fear that they might lose their grip over the family silver. Most of the political parties are nothing but private limited companies. When starting a political party has become such a profitable venture it is foolhardy on the part of the electorate to expect any kind of self-regulation and internal democracy. Most of our present day leaders are ‘state men’ rather than ‘statesmen’.
Political parties in India get divided not due to any ideological reasons but mainly due to family feuds and palace intrigues.

As Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes, “Our political parties seem to be similar in their style of functioning. Most are based on loyalty to leaders rather than loyalty to causes or institutions. Very few have properly institutionalised norms of recruitment and membership. And none has any real intra-party democracy.”

[LINK]

Feringhee of The India Dairies writes

“When is a democracy not a democracy? When its leaders are appointed by non-democratic methods, for one thing. When heredity is 9/10 of the law; and yes, the same formula applies to the Gandhi-Nehrus and Thackerays of India, and many others.”

The Republican Royals(Indian Express)

In India, several political parties follow the principle of inherited dynastic leadership, with the original model arguably supplied by the Gandhis
In a republican age, of course, entering public life is usually projected as making a sacrifice, never as taking advantage of an inheritance. This despite the fact that defensive parallels are often drawn with other ‘professions’ — such as the law, medicine and film world — where it is quite common to have children succeeding their parents. The preferred choice is always the son, the daughter is usually a second option.

Within what are ostensibly republics in South Asia, thus, we remain at heart subjects rather than citizens, people who need and love royals. As celebrities, they dazzle us much as Princess Diana did the British. As taxpayers, we even indulge their desire to buy millions of dollars worth of Evian.

We see nothing incongruous or ironical about viewing these new royals as the icons of our democracies. They may not assume leadership of their parties through democratic processes, but they can still become — like Benazir — powerful symbols of democracy. The parties they lead are essentially family firms controlling large sums of money. What better than the hereditary principle to legitimately bequeath this control to one’s own kin

Did this ring any bells?

Royalism has been democratised in South Asia. In turning our backs on monarchy, we reinvent ourselves as republicans. But this is often a fragile and tenuous republicanism, as the political parties in our democratic polities are mini-kingdoms each with its own royal family.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has not been altogether immune from his phenomenon. When Pramod Mahajan’s son Rahul disgraced himself by being hospitalised with a drug overdose, the BJP was happy to accept his daughter Poonam instead. She buttressed her claims to the Mahajan legacy by playing peacemaker when the alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena came under strain

So when all is said and done, let me reiterate that I am not against Rahul Gandhi. But I am against giving him a damn easy deal.
You are the scion of the one and only ‘royal khandaan’ are you?
So being in the limelight 24X7 comes with the package.
You have to prove yourself and its going to be a tough job coz millions like me are watching your every move.
Dont crib and dont be a crybaby about it. It doesnt make for a very pretty picture.

One wrong step and you are gone for good.
There are many others like me who are immune to your dimpled charm.
MAny others like me who even if they dont like you right now, will be more than willing to give you a chance later .
Later when you HAVE proven yourself.

Sounds tough eh?
Well..that’s the way life is dude.
Damn tough.
So tough luck mate but we’ll talk in about 5 years or more..

And I will be more than ready to eat my own words if you prove me wrong.I will be here.this post will be here. So will this blog.

Ramming the idea of Rahul Baba down my throat turns me off.

I don’t see a sudden halo around him after the election results. So go ahead murder me for this ‘sin’.

And if I absolutely had to fawn over someone then why not Mannu Uncle?

Hell!that guy has done more for India than a hundred Rahul Babas and Advanis combined!

PS:-Also since we are on the topic of dimpled hunks…would someone tell Hrithik to join politics please?

Pretty please?

A father who is a good filmmaker , a mother who is her own woman, a sister who is strong too,

Most of all the fella is a hubby most sincere (unlike the Sanju Baba  variety she-asks me-before-she-goes-for-coffee-types

Do let me know when Duggu does enter politics will you?

My vote’s for THAT dimpled darling

*sigh*

And if hunks are all that’s required then head here please

Nancy and her friends(including yours truly will give you a whole list )

Interesting thoughts
RAHUL:From Dud to Genius in Two Hours (Like Solilo says rightly, one of the best analysis in recent times ) DO read it.

THE CASE FOR OUR NEXT PM ( A brilliant read, the sarcasm is cutting not to mention awesome)
Nepotism is the DNA of Indian society.

Your nepotism is my family values -Sepia Mutiny (Do read the comment section  as well)

News
Rajnath Singh

Hell, I never vote for anybody, I always vote against.  ~W.C. Fields

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. ~Plato