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Rahul Gandhi

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Rahul Gandhi (born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India.

Quotes

India is the Saudi Arabia of human resources for the 21st century. The power that we used to get from oil in 20th century, we will get it from people like you in 21st century.
Politics is everywhere. It’s in your shirt, it’s in your pants. It’s everywhere.
Modi has anger inside him and he has got anger for everybody not only for me. I attract that anger because he sees a threat in me. His anger is his problem, not my problem.
My personality is made. I am done. There is nothing more to be made of me. I am what I am.
If India is computer, Congress is its default program.
Terrorism is impossible to be stopped at all time. We will stop 99% of the attacks; 1% of the attacks will get through.
Poverty is a state of mind.
When I take life this way, I stop thinking that the other guy is a joker. I realise I am the joker.
There is a word 'Shakti' in Hinduism. We are fighting against a Shakti.

2005

  • My personality is made. I am done. There is nothing more to be made of me. I am what I am.
  • People keep saying I am shy. Oh, he’s so shy. The media says it all the time. I am not at all shy. I am not reluctant. I am an extrovert. I am like that all the time. You can ask my friends. I am the one who talks the most.
  • There is fear of failure here. People keep saying what if this goes wrong, what if that doesn’t work. Every time I want to do something, there is this fear that it may go wrong. It comes up each time.
  • I don’t ask questions in Parliament because I like to think things through. Just look around at the questions that are asked in Parliament, and you’ll know why I don’t ask questions. I mean look at them. Is that the kind of stuff you want me to ask?
  • It is one bathroom lesson I haven’t forgotten. That is the arrogance you have to deal with. When I take life this way, I stop thinking that the other guy is a joker. I realise I am the joker.

2011

  • (After terrorist attacks in Mumbai) Terrorism is impossible to be stopped at all time. We will stop 99% of the attacks; 1% of the attacks will get through. You feel US has stopped all terrorist attacks? US is currently involved in Afghanistan and Iraq, where there are attacks every single day. On them. Not in US, but on them. The war has moved.

2012

  • India is the Saudi Arabia of human resources for the 21st century. The power that we used to get from oil in 20th century, we will get it from people like you in 21st century.
    • 2012. Rahul Gandhi: India is going to be 21st century Saudi Arabia, Rahul Gandhi

2013

  • There are people doing yoga in New York, dancing around, that’s the power of India. You go to a nightclub somewhere in Spain and there’s Amitabh Bachchan on the screen there, dancing around. That’s the power of India. That’s the power of Indian people.
    • 2013. Wall Street Journal, WSJ
  • In India, we have a concept of caste. It has a concept of escape velocity. If one belongs to a backward caste and wants to attain success then one needs an escape velocity to attain that success. Dalits in this country need the escape velocity of Jupiter to attain success.
  • Poverty is a state of mind.
    • 2013. Rahul Gandhi's 'poverty is a state of mind' remark draws flak, NDTV, NDTV Rahul Gandhi
  • If India is computer, Congress is its default program.
    • 2013. If India is computer, Cong is its default program: Rahul Gandhi, Times of India, Times of India
  • China is referred to as the ‘dragon’ and India as an ‘elephant’. But we are not an elephant, we are a ‘beehive’.
  • See, there is a tendency to look at India as a country.
  • We have to provide the roads on which our dreams are paved. And these roads can’t have potholes, they can’t break down in six months. They have to be big roads because they are going to carry strong people, they are going to carry strong forces.
    • 2013. Wall Street Journal, WSJ
  • If you go back a hundred, two hundred years, you would find that India is energy; it is a force. If you go back a thousand years, two thousand years, you would find that force came from our rivers: Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati. We worshiped these rivers and the reason we worshiped these rivers was because that is where our energy came from, and everything we had was built on these rivers. Now, we have gone way beyond that. We have built structures that are allowing this energy to rise, to explode.
  • Every situation that Indian person finds himself in is extremely complex. We have to deal with the red lights. As young leaders here have to deal with senior leaders, suddenly someone disrupts your entire life. Everything happens, sort of, according to your karma; it’s all random.
    • 2013. Rahul Gandhi says 'Stop asking politicians, do things on your own', Rahul Gandhi

2015

  • Politics is everywhere. It’s in your shirt, it’s in your pants. It’s everywhere.
    • 2015.Rahul Gandhi says politics is in your shirt, in your pants, Rahul Gandhi

2016

  • I would not have been here if I was not from a political family.

2014

Interview with Arnab, 2014

Interview with Arnab Goswami. Rahul Gandhi's first interview: Full text 27 January 2014.
(When asked if he would apologise for the Anti-Sikh riots):
  • Rahul : The fact of the matter is that innocent people died in 1984 and innocent people dying is a horrible thing and should not happen. The difference between Gujarat and 1984 was that the Government of Gujarat was involved in the riots
  • Rahul : The difference between the 84 riots and the riots in Gujarat was that in 1984 the Government was trying to stop the riots. I remember, I was a child then, I remember the Government was doing everything it could to stop the riots. In Gujarat the opposite was the case. The Government in Gujarat was actually abetting and pushing the riots further. So there is a huge difference between the two things, saying that innocent people dying is absolutely wrong
  • Rahul : I am saying that there was difference between the 1984 riots and the riots in Gujarat. The difference was that the Government in 1984 was trying to stop the riots, trying to stop the killing whereas the Government in Gujarat was allowing the riots to happen.
  • Rahul: Look. All I'm saying, all I'm saying is that there is a difference between the 1984 riots and the Gujarat riots. The simple difference is that in 1984 the government was not involved in the massacre of people. In Gujarat it was. The question is why do these kind of things take place. Why is it that the Gujarat riots took place? The Gujarat riots took place frankly because of the way our system is structured, because of the fact that people do not have a voice in the system. And what I want to do. And I have said it and I will say it again. What I want to do is question the fundamentals over here. What I want to do is ask a couple of questions. I want to ask why candidates that are chosen in every single party are chosen by a tiny number of people. I want to ask why women have to be scared to go out on the street. I want to ask these questions. These are fundamental questions.
  • Rahul: All I'm saying is there is a difference between the 1984 riots and the Gujarat riots. The difference is that the government of the day in 1984 was not aiding and abetting the riots. That is all I'm saying.
  • Arnab: So you don't need to apologise for the '84 riots. If someone seeks an apology from you, will you give it? Your Prime Minister has apologised for the riots. Expressed deep regret. Will you do the same?
  • Rahul: First of all I wasn't involved in the riots at all. It wasn't that I was part of it.
  • Arnab: On behalf of you party.
  • Rahul: I think that riots, as all riots, were a horrible event. Frankly I was not in operation in the Congress party.
On corruption:
  • Arnab: Are you open to taking action on Ashok Chavan and Virbhadra Singh? Have you seen the papers yourself? Will you examine them Mr. Gandhi? Will you examine it?
  • Rahul: Anybody who is corrupt should be punished. I am not a judge. So if there is a legal process and there is a result of the legal process, absolutely they should be punished.
  • Arnab: There is no case being followed against Mr. Virbhadra Singh.
  • Rahul: Yes I know that but I am saying that it is not my job. My job is when I see issues of corruption, take action on it. That's what I do.
  • Arnab: Well Mr. Gandhi now you see. The other question is, should you have spoken up much much earlier? You know you didn't. Everyone wants to know today why you didn't speak up during 2G. Why didn't you speak up during Coalgate? Why didn't you speak up? I think it was June 2010 that TIMES NOW broke the CWG scam and railgate. You could have spoken up. And you can't take the defence that you were not very actively there. You have for some time been effectively in-charge of the 2014 re-election campaign.
  • Rahul: My position was that I report to the Prime Minister. Whatever I felt I had conversations with the Prime Minister. Whatever I felt about the issues I made it abundantly clear to the Prime Minister. I was involved in the legislation, RTI legislation. And now I have helped pass the Lokpal Bill. I bring you back. The real issue here is participation of people in politics. It is bringing youngsters into the political system, it’s opening out the political system. That's where nobody wants to talk. Everybody is perfectly happy with 500 people running the entire system in India. Nobody, none of you want to raise that issue. The fundamental issue. How do we chose candidates?

2018

  • Modi has anger inside him and he has got anger for everybody not only for me. I attract that anger because he sees a threat in me. His anger is his problem, not my problem.

2019

2020

2021

  • Rising COVID numbers are worrying. Vaccination must pick up pace to avoid serious outcomes in the next wave.
    • Rahul Gandhi on Twitter, also quoted in [3]
  • India needs quick and complete vaccination - not BJP's usual brand of lies and rhyming slogans to cover up vaccine shortage caused by Modi government’s inaction.
    • Rahul Gandhi on Twitter, also quoted in [4]

2023

  • The surprising thing is that the so called defenders of democracy like US and Europe seem to just be oblivious of the fact that a huge chunk of the democratic model has come undone in India. While the opposition is fighting that battle, US and Europe are not doing enough to restore the democracy in India. The inaction may be because of the trade and money they are getting.
    • March 06, 2023 . Rahul Gandhi’s comments in London [5][6] [7]

2024


Quotes about Rahul Gandhi

Alphabetized by surname.
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · See also · External links

A

  • Their strategy was simple. Moral domination. Nehru was a thinker. But Rajiv, Sonia, and Rahul are no intellectuals. They took a different route. They redefined morality. Secularism included. Anti-Congress was new immoral. Pro-Hindu became anti-Muslim. India was morally polarized. Morality is subjective. No one can say with guarantee what is pure morality. Masses were forced to choose between moral standards (Secularism, unity in diversity, inclusive etc.) and quality of life (development). People who wanted quality of life were made to feel guilty. Hindus who wanted to celebrate their religious freedom were made to feel guilty. Muslims who wanted to be part of mainstream India were made to feel guilty. They filled India’s psyche with fear, hate and guilt. They hated all indigenous, grassroots thinkers. They hated Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Chandrashekhar, P.V. Narsimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and now Modi. They are the land grabbers of Sainik Farms and Adarsh Societies of India. They run NGOs. They run media. They coin useless and irrelevant jargon to confuse the masses. They have designations but no real jobs. They are irrelevant NRIs who want us to see a reality which doesn’t exist. They want a plebiscite in Kashmir. They defend stone-pelters. They want Maoists to participate in mainstream politics. They want Tejpal to be freed. Yaqub to be pardoned. But they want Modi to be hanged. They are the hijackers of national morality. Secularism included. They are the robbers of Indian treasury. They are the brokers of power. They are the pimps of secularism. They are the Intellectual Mafia.
    • Vivek Agnihotri, Urban Naxals: The Making of Buddha in a Traffic Jam (2018, Garuda Prakashan)

G

  • Stop jumping with joy every time a crime happens, Mr Rahul Gandhi. The state has already assured strict and prompt action. You divide the society in every manner possible for electoral gains and then shed crocodile tears. Enough is enough. You are a MERCHANT OF HATE.

I

  • The fact that he chose to belittle the Prime Minister is not surprising, in fact expected... After failing to connect with the people of India, Mr Gandhi chooses a platform of convenience for beating his political opponents.... Indian democracy gives opportunity to merit and is not beholden to dynasty... A failed dynast today chose to speak about his failed political journey.
    • Smriti Irani (2017). As attributed and quoted in [9]

K

  • I have spent more than 32 years in the Congress and when the Ram Mandir decision came, after getting advice from his wellwisher in America, Rahul Gandhi in a meeting with his close aides said that after the Congress government is formed, they will form a superpower commission and will overturn the Ram Mandir decision just like Rajiv Gandhi overturned the Shah Bano decision.

M

  • The Shehzada of the Congress said recently that our Rajas and Maharajas back in the day were ruthless. They snatched or took away the humble assets of the poor at their whim. The Shehzada insulted the revered Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Rani Chennamma, whose good governance and patriotism still fill us with national pride and honour. Does he not have any knowledge of the contribution of the royal family of Mysuru who we all regard very highly and are proud of? ... The Shehzada’s was carefully calibrated, on purpose, to appease a certain vote bank. He did not utter a single word on the atrocities committed by the Nawabs, Nizams, Sultans, and Badhshahs (on their peasants). The Congress seems to have forgotten the grave excesses perpetrated by (Mughal emperor) Aurangzeb, who destroyed thousands of our temples... The Benaras Hindu University (BHU) could not have been established without the help of the king, who ruled the city back in the day. Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda had helped Baba Saheb Ambedkar pursue his higher studies abroad. The Congress’ Shehzada knows nothing about this and is making public statements that are aimed at advancing the party’s vote bank politics. The Congress is in an alliance with parties that glorify Aurangzeb. They don’t talk about kings who destroyed our pilgrimage sites, looted them, killed our people while also slaughtering livestock... Since the Congress came to power in Karnataka, the law and order situation in the state has been on a free-fall. The incident in Hubballi (the daylight murder of a sitting Congress corporator’s daughter) shook the country’s conscience. When the bereaved family sought action, the ruling Congress, yet again, preferred appeasement over justice. They do not value the lives of our daughters like Neha (Hiremath). All they care about is their vote bank.

O

  • Singh and I had developed a warm and productive relationship. While he could be cautious in foreign policy, unwilling to get out too far ahead of an Indian bureaucracy that was historically suspicious of U.S. intentions, our time together confirmed my initial impression of him as a man of uncommon wisdom and decency…. What I couldn’t tell was whether Singh’s rise to power represented the future of India’s democracy or merely an aberration.... In fact, he owed his position to Sonia Gandhi…more than one political observer believed that she’d chosen Singh precisely because as an elderly Sikh with no national political base, he posed no threat to her forty-year-old son, Rahul, whom she was grooming to take over the Congress Party... He feared that rising anti-Muslim sentiment had strengthened the influence of India’s main opposition party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)... In the dim light, he (Singh) looked frail, older than his seventy-eight years, and as we drove off I wondered what would happen when he left office. Would the baton be successfully passed to Rahul, fulfilling the destiny laid out by his mother and preserving the Congress Party’s dominance over the ‘divisive nationalism’ touted by the BJP?
  • Rahul Gandhi has a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who’d done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject.
    • Barack Obama, ‘A Promised Land’, 2020.

S

  • It took this election campaign for ordinary Indians to notice what was going on. They noticed because Modi told voters that they were choosing between a ‘kaamdaar’ and a ‘naamdaar’. A working man and a prince. It did not help that the ‘naamdaar’ then mocked Modi and made fun of everything about him. Modi’s ‘hugplomacy’, ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’, demonetisation. Modi’s demonetisation, he said, was done to steal their money and give it to his rich friends. The country’s Chowkidar, he said too many times, was a ‘chor’. He forgot that he was demeaning not just a political opponent but the Prime Minister of India. Ordinary voters were appalled that the heir to India’s most powerful political dynasty should talk this way. He sounded arrogant, entitled and insulting and reminded them that there were too many political heirs in Indian politics
    • Tavleen Singh. May 26, 2019 . No revival of that old order: The idea of India in which there are privileges and not rights is dead [14]
  • In the sycophancy department she surpassed her own high standards when she began to recount Rahul Gandhi’s virtues. Even I, who knew her eternal need to be counted in Delhi’s highest echelons of political power, nearly fell off my chair when she said, ‘Do you know I believe that Rahul Gandhi has the best of Rajiv in him and the best of Sanjay?’ I recount this remark here to draw attention to how much support dynastic democracy has in the drawing rooms of Lutyens’ Delhi. And it is not just socialites who endorse this distorted form of democracy but bureaucrats, journalists and men and women who like to think of themselves as public intellectuals.
    • Singh, T. (2016). India's broken tryst. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India : HarperCollins Publishers India, 2016.
  • The interview was an unmitigated disaster. The first problem was that he chose to give his first formal interview in English and not in Hindi. This strengthened the impression that he represented the privileged denizens of Delhi more than the people of India. The second problem was that of all of Indian television’s English anchors Arnab had been chosen. Arnab has made belligerence the defining characteristic of his anchoring style, and once he gets a victim into his studio rarely lets him get away with vague answers. Nobody seemed to have prepared him for the kind of questions he would be asked. So he spent most of his answers talking in abstractions. Democracy is about processes, he said, and Rahul Gandhi is sitting here because he wants to empower the people. And most puzzling of all was his repeated assertion that ‘the system’ had destroyed his grandmother and his father and would probably destroy him. As Arnab’s questions became tougher and more direct Rahul’s answers became more abstract. When I finished watching the interview I watched it again on YouTube and found myself marvelling at how many times he repeated that ‘the system’ was what he was in politics to change. It was as if nobody had told him that ‘the system’ for ten years had been a government that was controlled by his mother with an iron hand. And that ‘the system’ had been created by his great-grandfather and perpetuated by his grandmother and father after that. By the time I finished watching this interview for the second time I was certain that the Congress would lose the election with or without a Modi wave.
    • Singh, T. (2016). India's broken tryst. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India : HarperCollins Publishers India, 2016.

W

  • Responding to the Ambassador's query about Lashkar-e-Taiba's activities in the region and immediate threat to India, Gandhi said there was evidence of some support for the group among certain elements in India's indigenous Muslim community. However, Gandhi warned, the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalized Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community.
    • Quoted from Wikileaks: US embassy cables: Ambassador warned that radical Hindu groups may pose bigger threat than LeT in India, quoted in The Guardian. The Guardian The Guardian

See also

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