New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he was ready to “take charge” in 2019, his clearest indication yet that he will be the party’s prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing students at the University of California in Berkeley, Gandhi also admitted that some arrogance crept into the Congress in 2012, two years before the BJP swept to power at the Centre.
From dynasty to demonetisation, here’s a look at Rahul Gandhi’s top quotes at the event:
ON 2019 RUN
Around 2012, a certain arrogance crept into the Congress and they stopped having conversations with the people… I am ready to take charge in 2019.
ON POLITICS OF HATE
The politics of polarization is very dangerous. Hatred, anger and violence can destroy us. Liberal journalists are being shot. People are being lynched, dalits are being killed over suspicions of carrying beef, Muslims are killed over suspicions of eating beef, all this is new in India.
ON KASHMIR
For nine years, I worked behind the scenes with (then) PM Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and a large number of people. We worked silently on J&K. When we started, terrorism was rampant in Kashmir, when we finished there was peace, we had broken the back of terrorism. By 2013, we basically broke the back of terror. I hugged PM Manmohan Singh and told him it was one of the biggest achievements.
ON DEMONETISATION
The decision of demonetisation was taken without consulting either the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) or Parliament, resulting in severe damage across sectors
ON MODI GOVT
The Modi government is clamping down on RTI which was kept transparent during our rule… He is my PM too. He is a good communicator, but he doesn’t listen to the people he works with. Many MPs and BJP members have told me that he doesn’t listen.
ON INDIRA AND RAJIV
I lost my grandmother and father to violence. I used to play with the bodyguards who killed my grandmother. If I don’t understand violence, who will? The idea of non-violence is under attack today, yet it is the only idea which can take humanity forward….
ON DYNASTY POLITICS
Most of the country runs like this. That’s how India works. Dynastic politics is a problem in all political parties. Akhilesh (Yadav), (MK) Stalin and even (actor) Abhishek Bachchan are dynasts. Even (Prem Kumar) Dhumal’s son (Anurag Thakur) is a dynast, so don’t go just after me.
ON TROLLS
There is a BJP machine with about a thousand guys sitting on computers. They basically tell you things about me. They tell you I am reluctant, I am stupid; they tell you all these things. This operation is run by the gentlemen who runs our country.
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