Mother Sonia Gandhi may have forced her son Rahul to express regret about his recent outrageous behaviour, but it has triggered a discussion both within the party as well as among the allies on whether the Congress vice president is really ready to become the prime minister. Renu Mittal reports
Rahul Gandhi and the embarrassment he caused to the Congress party simply refuses to die down, with the All India Congress Committee vice president now making amends for his harsh words and admitting that he was wrong in his choice of words but certainly not in the sentiments.
Mother Sonia Gandhi appears to have given her son Rahul a dressing down for making a public exhibition of the party and the government, and for giving the Bharatiya Janata Party an issue to attack the Congress.
Speaking to media persons in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Rahul said: My mother told me that the words I used were very strong. In the hindsight, I feel may be my words were wrong, but the sentiment I felt was not wrong.
I spoke from the heart, I am entitled to voice my opinion, Rahul said, adding that a large section of the party supported his stand.
Senior party leaders say it is clear from Rahuls words that his mother asked him to almost apologize for the harsh words used by him, which undermined not only the authority of the party leadership -- that pushed the ordinance -- but also the entire cabinet and the prime minister which cleared the ordinance.
The UPA allies are also up in arms against Rahul with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar speaking strongly in the Cabinet, while attacking the Congress vice president and the manner in which he forced the entire Cabinet to change a decision taken by him.
Non-Congress leaders are complaining that while the parliamentary system has been virtually destroyed, the Cabinet system is also now being destroyed.
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He has been officially designated as the number two in the party and for all intents and purposes it has been made clear that because he is a Gandhi he is the heir to the Congress
and would be the next prime minister in the event that the party gets its numbers together and is in a position to form the government.
In such a scenario, both the party and the government were forced to succumb to his diktat and tear off the ordinance along with making it clear they would also withdraw the bill which has been introduced during the winter session of Parliament.
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Can a hot headed, immature Rahul be India's PM? - Rediff.com News
It is very hard to believe Rahul gandhi was kept in dark when the ordinance was being formulated. It appears as though it was all pre planned, i.e Rahul Gandhi would go and speak against the ordinance in public thereby becoming a sort of a hero, but guess he bit more that he could swallow!
