Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, while interacting with students at the University of Texas at Dallas in the US, said the Bharat Jodo Yatra introduced the idea of love in politics.
Elaborating on the reasons behind organising the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi said, “The reason (behind organising the Bharat Jodo Yatra) is that all channels of communication in India were shut. Whatever we did, it was shut. We spoke in Parliament. It was not shown on TV. We go to the media, they don’t listen to us. We even go to the legal system with documents, but nothing happens. So all channels were shut. And for a long time we really couldn’t figure out how to communicate. And then suddenly we got this idea… what could be a better way than walking across the country? And so that’s what we did…”
“But it’s been surprisingly easy. And it’s fundamentally changed the way I think about my work… It’s completely changed the way I look at politics, how I look at my people, how I communicate, how I listen. For me, the most powerful thing that happened naturally was that we introduced, certainly for the first time in India, probably for the first time in many countries, the idea of ’love’ in politics. And it’s strange… because… (in most countries) in political discourse, you will never find the word ‘love’… you will find hate, anger, injustice, corruption… And the Bharat Jodo Yatra has actually introduced that idea into the Indian political system, and I’m amazed to see how that idea is working,” he said.
The Congress leader also said that India also needs to think about organizing the production process and production.
He said, “India has to think about how to organise production and how to organise production. It is not acceptable for India to just say that manufacturing or production will be reserved for the Chinese… or the Vietnamese… or the Bangladeshis. Bangladesh is way ahead of us in the garment industry, despite the problems they are facing right now… We have to rethink the way we produce in a democratic environment. Unless we do that, we will have high levels of unemployment. And frankly, that is not sustainable. So… if we continue on this path… you will see huge social problems coming up in India and the United States and Europe. That is why our politics is polarised.”
Talking about the problems faced by the youth due to unemployment, the Rae Bareli MP said production creates employment, but India organises consumption, which is a cause of concern.
“If you look at the United States in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, they were the centre of global production. Everything that was made – cars, washing machines, TVs – was all made in the United States. Production moved from the United States… (then) to Korea, (from there) it went to Japan. Eventually it went to China… China dominates global production. (In India) Phones… furniture… clothes, (most) are made in China. This is a fact. The West, America, Europe, India have given up the idea of production and they have handed it over to China. The function of production creates jobs. What we do, the Americans do, the West does, is to organize consumption. Uber, Foxconn, Mahindra, Bajaj organize production. These are the people who create jobs…”
Mr. Gandhi said that there is no employment problem in all countries.
He said, “One thing is clear. There is no employment problem everywhere on earth. The West…(and) India have employment problems. But there are many countries in the world where there is no employment problem. China…(and) Vietnam do not have employment problems. So there are places on earth which are not facing unemployment. There is a reason behind this.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
