An insight of the
art of grooming leaders in contemporary politics in India
By Professor (Dr.) P.L. Joshi , Bahrain
October 25, 2006
Dr. Prem Joshi, University of Bahrain
The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and
Priyanka.
In Indian print media, news stories have been appearing, creating
some debate, that Mr. Rahul Gandhi is being projected as the future
Prime Minister of India by the ruling Congress Party, its mentors
and the political and financial controller of the Congress Party,
the third most powerful woman of the world, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.
Politics is considered an art of living together in
community. However, in the contemporary context, the real meaning
of politics; is perceived as corrupt politicians, greed and party
factions etc. Others consider it just a dirty word for 'accountability'
and the 'game of compromises' and 'opportunistic tactics' and so
on.. Do you know why it is that many intellectuals and self-conscious
people in India become quite off-handed and even antagonistic when
discussion begins on family legacy in politics? It is because they
consider politics a dirty game of business with no limits.
In Indian print media, news stories have been appearing, creating
some debate, that Mr. Rahul Gandhi is being projected as the future
Prime Minister of India by the ruling Congress Party, its mentors
and the political and financial controller of the Congress Party,
the third most powerful woman of the world, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. This
is being referred to as a strategic planning for India's future
leadership, though politicians and planners in India often lack
a solid strategic plan for the development of this country, considering
that in 59 years of independence, there remains much to be done
in eradicating poverty among millions of its citizens.
In foreign media too e.g. Bahrain Tribune ("Rahul in South
for grooming course, October 20, 2005) has quoted one news item
that Mr. Rahul is being sent to various states in India in order
to get a feel of developmental problems of people in various fields.
This is being perceived by masses as a stepping stone to groom him
by his political Gurus' as the future prime minister of India.
This posture is further seen as good support from Dr. Man Mohan
Singh who has been advising and sending Mr. Rahul to various international
conferences and programmes to enhance his intellectual skills so
that he will have a good grip over the understanding and running
a country of 1.1 billion people. It seems very well that Mrs. Sonia
Gandhi brought Dr. Man Mohan Singh as the Prime Minister of India
after a well thought out strategy so that, the gentlemanship of
Dr. Singh will pay fruits to the Gandhi family in the near future.
Hence, Mr. Rahul is working as a trainee under Dr. Singh's tutelage.
The Indian general public and intellectuals have great respect for
Dr. Singh's ability, capabilities and leadership, as he has been
instrumental in transforming India's doldrums and gloomy economy
to a reasonable height and the Indian economy is considered to be
in the safe hands. Still Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is a God Sister for Dr.
Singh and Dr. Singh is turning into a Godfather for Mr. Rahul Gandhi.
The news in the Bahrain Tribune quotes "Friends of the Gandhi
family swear that Singh has become Gandhi's right hand man in a
short span of time as he was a self-effacing, low-key personality
and shy of the media. He (Rahul) has got an excellent and professional
team. They operate from his new house in Tughlak Lane and have been
doing wonderfully."
One of my international colleagues and friends from the US states
on the family dynasty in politics:
"In the US, our current president is the son of a past president.
I am sure that his name gave him special opportunities, as people
recognized that he came from a politically connected family. Certainly,
he was a member of a family and, therefore, saw first hand the challenges
of leading a nation. I think it would be wrong if he had become
President simply because of his family connections. However, I do
not think that happened. He has proven to be a very capable leader.
Not everyone agrees with every decision he makes. Yet, he has demonstrated
honesty and careful thought in doing his job. He has faced many
tough problems like 9-11, wars, and gigantic natural disasters.
I think he has done as well or better than any of the other possible
leaders in America. Perhaps there are some similarities in the current
situation of Mr. Rahul Gandhi and the past situation of Mr. Bush."
All parents would like to see that their children are nourished
well, receive the best education and attain the best career levels.
However, children have to face stiff competition in this process.
Taking care of children is not easy for the average Indian family.
Here is a unique case regarding Mr. Rahul, in which the post of
the Prime Minister of India is taken for granted as soon as his
training period is over. This shows how the legacy of an inherited
political system is carried to several generations in the democracy
of India.
Why not have Dr. Singh and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi ask Mr. Rahul Gandhi
to face a competition like a TV programme being shown on Sony TV
"Fame of Gurukul'? Why not has Mr. Rahul come out in the public,
compete with other potential young leaders in this country and prove
his credentials to be the future Prime Minister of India? If someone
else excels him in this competition, why not groom that future leader?
Why is a political and administrative training course being carried
out especially for Mr. Rahul, at the cost of tax payers funds?
Mr. Rahul Gandhi has completed his education from Delhi Public
school and had a brief stint at in Stephens College, Delhi University.
He then got an M.Phil. in Economics of developing countries from
Trinity College, Cambridge (some people say it is still controversial,
e.g. www.nihindia.org) with a prior brief stint at Harvard. If people
think that graduating from Harvard Business School or university
or another US top-ten business schools can make them the best Prime
Minister of India, I am sure that many parents would leave no stone
unturned to arrange such education for their children. Graduating
from such business schools can make you into a good manager but
not automatically into a good political leader of this country.
I suggest that Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad or Bangalore)
and IIPA Delhi develop special training courses for Mr.Rahul in
political administration so that he will have the taste of all holy
rivers' waters of India.
The late Mrs. Indira Gandhi ruled this country for about two decades
under the garb of 'garibee hataoo' (poverty eradication) (the same
slogan was given by Late Pandit Jawaher Lal Nehru), and now same
thing by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi (it appears that India's problems like
poverty eradication are never outdated). One will not be surprised
if Mr. Rahul Gandhi may come out similar slogans with some modifications
in it using the fundamentals of high tech concepts (like his father
and essentially an old wine in a new bottle) and rule this country
for decades. It is a well-known fact that under the garb of 'poverty
eradication', as well as the" Nehru Gandhi Dynasty', Indian
public can be easily emotionalized to get favours.
In March 2004, when Congress party announced to field Mr. Rahul
Gandhi to contest election for the Lok Sabha (House of Common),
Star News channel, India conducted an opinion survey of the public
in Uttar Pradesh, India on " Gandhi Clan's Credibility'. Among
other questions, the public responses on a specific question "do
you find Rahul Gandhi fit enough to be the Prime Minister of India?,"
were as follows:
Yes No
Yes, because he represents the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty 32.40% 13.80%
Yes, because he is young and energetic 22.40% 19.20%
Yes, because unlike his mother, he is a born Indian 6.80% 4.70%
Yes, because I don't like the BJP led government 2.70% 3.00%
Yes, for some other reason 3.80% 3.20%
Total Yes 68.10% 43.90%
No, because he has no experience 24.70% 37.40%
No, because his mother is a foreigner 1.50% 3.00%
No, because I am against any dynastic rule 2.50% 7.90%
No, because people don't know much about him 1.00% 2.70%
No, for some other reason 2.20% 5.20%
Total No 31.90% 56.20%
Source: Indiantelevision.com's News Room Headlines
As can be seen from the above opinion survey, Mr. Gandhi emerges
a potential leader of India in the future. In the light of this,
I wish Good Luck to Mr. Rahul with a famous quote from a Spiderman
movie "with great power comes great responsibility".
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