Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's press conference Monday on completion of one year of his re-elected United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was a disappointment. Not quite because, as the Indian media laments, it revealed no plan of action, had no message or made no big announcement, but because it paved an unquestionable way forward for the Congress Party to continue with dynastic succession. And that's not a welcome prospect for any self-respecting Indian, even if another round of a Gandhi lording it over the country will do it some good. From Nehru to Indira, Sanjay, Rajiv and now Sonia – the Congress president who runs the country by proxy – the Gandhis have done a great deal for the country, no doubt. But to stretch it further to the next generation of Gandhis, especially at a time when India and Indians are world leaders in many ways, would be to reinforce the old Orientalist stereotype of South Asians being just a huge mass of mindless people perenially prone to manipulation by a select few. There may be no truth at all in such a perception of how the world sees us as a people today. But it's disturbing that we Indians can get by without being the least bit bothered about how dynasties continue to rule the roost in the country, whether it's in politics, business or Bollywood. Singh's endorsement of Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rajiv, as a strong contender for a Cabinet post, cannot be taken lightly because it is an incontrovertible vote of confidence coming from a man of impeccable integrity, which is a rare and almost extinct trait in Indian politics. Singh is also the architect of India's economic reforms, introduced as far back as 1991 when he was finance minister. As prime minister since 2005, he led the country to an impressive 9.2% growth rate for three-and-a-half years until the global financial crisis erupted, but even then, India managed to record a GDP growth rate of 7.6% (last fiscal) and is looking at 8.5% going forward. At the press conference, Singh was asked when Rahul Gandhi – the son of Rajiv and Sonia – would join his Cabinet. “When he is ready to join… he would be a very, very appropriate addition,” the prime minister replied, clearly suggesting that there is some truth after all in media speculation that there is no going back on Rahul emerging as the prime ministerial candidate for the next elections scheduled for 2014. Rahul, 39, is now the Congress general secretary. Singh said that his invitations time and again to Rahul to join his Cabinet were always met with the young Gandhi's insistence that he wanted to focus on reviving the Congress. In all fairness to Rahul, he has brought about a huge transformation in the party's youth wing by conducting, for the first time in decades, free and transparent elections to state party units across the country. The internal democracy and elections he introduced in the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) have propelled many well qualified and deserving young politicians to positions of power within the party. As party general secretary, Rahul, proved his mettle in the recent general elections by almost single-handedly winning more than 20 seats for his party in Uttar Pradesh state where the Congress had long lost its voter base. Moreover, he has been reaching out to the poor, the downtrodden and the minorities, and seems to be uncompromising in pushing for inclusive growth. Many argue that if not for the Gandhi tag, Rahul truly deserves his status today as a youth icon and inspiration, earned by sheer dint of performance as a well-meaning and conscientious grassroots party worker. Rahul himself is the first to agree that he is a “symptom” of the ills of Indian politics manifested by dynasty, patronage, money. “If I had not come from my family, I wouldn't be here,” he said during an interaction with some students late last year. “You can enter the system either through family or friends or money. Without family, friends or money, you cannot enter the system. My father was in politics. My grandmother and great grandfather were in politics. So, it was easy for me to enter politics. This is a problem. I am a symptom of this problem. I want to change it.” In word and deed, Rahul has so far proven to some extent that he has what it takes to help India and Indians break away from dependence on the Gandhis. And that's the problem with this whole Gandhi thing. Even as you try to find reasons to break the Gandhi grip, you end up strengthening it simply because there's always nobody else on the horizon with such a tight combination of power, performance, past and preeminence. – SG Feedback: [email protected] __
