http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rahul-gandhi-dishes-out-blockbuster-performance-in-first-lok-sabha-appearance-post-hiatus/articleshow/46993846.cms
Rahul Gandhi dishes out blockbuster performance in first Lok Sabha appearance post hiatus By ET Bureau | 21 Apr, 2015, 04.00AM IST NEW DELHI: Surrounded, almost like a protection team, by a handful of the not-so-many Congress MPs, Rahul Gandhi delivered his maiden performance in Lok Sabha since the 2014 polls, charging the Modi government with abandoning farmers to favour corporates. "Yeh suit-boot ki sarkar hai... aapki sarkar bade logon ki sarkar hai," he said while taking a dig at Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on his reportedly "honest" comments that the farmer should not depend on "Bhagwan" or "sarkar". Rahul then poked some fun at BJP MPs for insisting that he should refer to Modi as the country's prime minister, not just BJP's PM. And all this was interspersed with data and prepared talking points on the agricultural sector. But the subject was far removed from the subtext, which is what carried the political message. For years, Rahul has desisted repeated pleas, at times strong exhortations, from party seniors and colleagues to speak in Parliament -- this was just his fourth speech in his decade-long stint as a parliamentarian. So, for him to be in Parliament just a day after his public appearance at Ramlila Maidan was a political effort by Congress to convey that their vice-president is now willing to be guided and aided. Ample of that was on display. The prompts were visible and audible. When Rahul used the word "gussa", he was prompted with "naraz", a more accurate usage for his intent to convey that the government had annoyed the farming community. Many more such prompts followed from an efficient crew of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Gaurav Gogoi, Rajiv Satav, Ashok Chavan and a few others, which sat around him. There were, however, some notable absentees such as Amarinder Singh, despite a whip. Congress insiders did not deny the design, making the point that Rahul was their leader and had to be guided. The intervention was part of the plan to launch the Gandhi scion soon after his 56-day political sabbatical. "He silenced them (BJP)," Scindia later told TV channels. Within an hour of the speech, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said she was pleased with her son's performance. And from every pulpit, party leaders claimed they had taken the fight to the BJP camp. In reality, they had claimed their leader back, positioning him as a figurehead, speaking more or less the same things, but this time on their terms. They cheered as Rahul accused BJP of speaking in different voices and thumped hard when he said: "You are making a huge mistake. You are hurting the farmers, and they will hurt you." Meanwhile, Congress elders were a relieved lot that Rahul sprung up no surprises and, at last, the plan had gone by the script, so far. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
