Rahul Gandhi: India needs to respect itself

Why does Rahul Gandhi believe India needs to "dream big" when it comes to democracy?

Transcript

00:00My disqualification in many ways is an advantage for me and I think they have given me a gift frankly.

00:18India needs to dream big and you can't dream big if you know the people who are leading you are angry,

00:26are violent, are engrossed with hatred. India needs to be in harmony. India needs to start talking to itself.

00:36India needs to respect itself. People are impatient, you know. People are like very impatient.

00:44BJP has been in power for 10 years. Well, okay, we were in power for 10 years before that. Why did nobody say,

00:50you know, in UPA too, when we had been in power for 8 years, why did nobody say, oh my god, the BJP is going to evaporate.

00:58After all, the same, you know, we were in power for 10 years. So, there is a tendency for the media to sort of exaggerate these things.

01:07There are reasons for it also. But we are committed to the democratization of India.

01:14I think I heard you say you described the media in India as somewhat captured by the powers that be.

01:21Yeah, I mean I think you could remove the word somewhat.

01:24So, if your party comes to power, what steps would be taken to free up that press and make it less?

01:35I mean, you don't really need to do much. You need to just stop interfering and stop pressurizing, you know.

01:43And if you look at the UPA period, we didn't interfere, we didn't pressurize and it worked perfectly fine.

01:50So, if the leadership of the country decides that a free press is valuable, then it will fall into place.

01:58There is a question from the audience. In 9 years of BJP rule, India has become, has a 3.5 trillion rupee or dollar economy.

02:07India is one of the most, and yet India is one of the most impoverished countries.

02:13So, how do you see India addressing its many problems?

02:20You know, given the challenges of democracy, given the challenges of the divisive rule,

02:27what's the way forward in terms of specifically addressing poverty?

02:32You know, the 3.5 trillion, India has a particular growth rate. So, that's just a natural consequence of that growth rate.

02:40The question is, how is the wealth of India distributed? Is India creating jobs?

02:48Are Indian people feeling that they can express themselves? Are they happy? Is there general tranquility in the country?

02:58Congress party has a record for doing this. I mean, it's not, I mean, we have done it for many, many years.

03:05I think a good model is to let the people of India get to work, let them do what they are best at doing

03:15and not to sort of, you know, pressurize them and threaten them and do that.

03:21There is a historical record for this.

03:25This is another question from the audience. So, the way you were disqualified from parliament and what is happening in Pakistan,

03:32do you see any similarities here and what does that say about politics in the region?

03:36I don't know. I mean, look, as you said, I asked a rhetorical question.

03:45I am the first person in India to be given the highest punishment for a defamation case.

03:55It's the first case, I am the first person in Indian history since 1947.

04:00Nobody has been given the maximum sentence on defamation and that too on the first offence.

04:09So, that should explain what's going on here. And my disqualification happens

04:18quite interestingly after I make a speech about Mr. Adani on parliament.

04:24So, you can do the math. But you know, my disqualification is not really, it's okay, it's not the most important thing.

04:34The most important thing is the thousands and thousands of other voices, civil society, government, bureaucracy,

04:47who are being frightened into submission. That's much more important to me than my disqualification.

04:54My disqualification in many ways is an advantage for me.

04:57How so? Because it opens up completely new spaces for me.

05:04You know, it allows me to completely redefine myself. And I think they have given me a gift, frankly.

05:13They don't think to realize it. But they have. Politics is not linear.

05:20You know, it's like it can suddenly go off into another direction. It's asymmetric.

05:25So, I think they've given me a gift. It's not apparent right now, but I think they have.