1) "Mayawati is a national icon. She is with the BSP, but she has sent a message to the country. I respect her, I love her." 2) "He (Modi) has shown how not to run the nation. If you will run the country without listening to anybody, you won't be a good leader. There's no match to PM Modi's communication skills." 3) “Prime Minister Narendra Modi should debate me on issues such as corruption, notes ban, Goods and Services Tax and farmer crisis, given that the PM works very hard and sleeps for only three hours." 4) "Wherever I travel, people are scared everywhere. They say a force is trying to control the country." 5) "We are against the ideology which is spreading hatred in the country...This is the ideology of hatred and we are fighting against it."<doc-sep>Narendra Modi Has His Contribution, He Showed Us How Not To Run A Country: Rahul Gandhi Speaks To Ravish Kumar In Madhya Pradesh’s Shujalpur, after a rally, Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke to NDTV‘s Ravish Kumar in a candid interview. During the conversation, Rahul Gandhi addressed several issues, ranging from Sam Pitroda’s reprehensible comments on the 1984 Sikh pogrom, the constant jibes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Gandhi family, and the Lok Sabha Polls. The following are a few key quotes from the interview: Sam Pitroda was wrong (regarding his comments on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots). There is no debate on the 1984 tragedy. Whoever committed violence, they should be booked and punished. Narendra Modi has contributed to the country by showing us how not to run the country. It is a country that is filled with love. He’s filled with personal hatred. At public functions, I meet with him with love. Even then he doesn’t reply. I talk to him respectfully. He doesn’t speak even then. Narendra Modi talks about Rajiv ji, about Nehru ji, about Indira ji. I know the truth. I know my grandmother’s truth. I know it’s all lies that he is spreading. What difference does it make? It is okay if you say ‘Naamdar’. It will be clear on May 23. We are fighting against the RSS, those who want single-party rule in the country. The fight is between BJP-RSS and the progressive forces of the country. Wherever I go, people are saying they are sacred. There’s a force that’s trying to control India. Five years ago, some people said no one can defeat Narendra Modi. But we didn’t back down. We fought in parliament; we fought on the ground. Now he’s feeling scared. No one today is saying that Narendra Modi will win. Also Read: BJP, RSS & Modi Have Hatred for My Family: Rahul Gandhi We are fighting against the ideology that is a threat to the Constitution. PM Modi is ignoring the intelligence of the RBI and announcing demonetisation… Wherever I go, the people of the country say that there is a force that is trying to control the country. Narendra Modi thinks giving speeches and comments are the PM’s job. But PM’s job is to think with strategy. He has no strategy in his work. Look at Jammu and Kashmir. For nine years, Manmohan Singh ji and I worked hard; we strengthened Panchayati Raj, we empowered women. All that has been wasted. Manmohan Singh improved the country’s economy carefully, strategically. Watch the full interview here:<doc-sep>In the middle of his election rally in Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi spoke to NDTV’s Hindi news anchor and journalist, Ravish Kumar. In stark contrast to Narendra Modi’s preference for safe interviews in friendly television studios and “apolitical” conversations with film stars held in his residential lawn, the Congress President faced unscripted questions from one of India’s most inspiring journalists, with elan. Rahul finds it necessary to reemphasise the politics of love, in an atmosphere vitiated by moral vulgarity and hatred. There is nothing “mysterious” about the pamphlet on Atishi – the East Delhi candidate from Aam Aadmi Party. The language of the pamphlet bears proof to three tendencies coming together: one, the audacity of a patriarchal mindset; two, the culture of caricaturing a political opponent; and three, lowering the level of political discourse by introducing vile rumours. We know which political ideology has been practising these tendencies for the last five years. The pattern is unmistakable. There is a moral vulgarity that is being injected into our political language so that people vote according to their basest instincts. There seems to be accepted wisdom among hyper-nationalists that unless indecent language and methods are used to woo the voters, they won’t vote for them. Rahul has matched indecent language with his insistence on love. It was brave of Rahul to talk about love at a time when you can smell hatred in the air, sense its viscous poison spreading throughout social media, WhatsApp and other mediums, see and hear it in people who are hypnotised by a man who is encouraging them to sacrifice their brains for paranoia and acrimony. Also read: The Scurrilous Pamphlet on Atishi Bears the Stench of Familiar Political Practice Rahul affirmed the political spine of the Congress by saying that it was his party that took the “political fight” to the BJP. He backed up this assertion by stating that if Modi had attacked anyone most fiercely, it has been his party, and his predecessors – who also happen to belong to his family. Rahul Gandhi’s selfless appeal Earlier in the day, Rahul was quick not to allow the BJP to take much advantage of Sam Pitroda’s crass and demeaning comments on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Asking Pitroda to apologise, Rahul said his comment was “absolutely and completely out of line and is not appreciated”. It is, tactically, not an easy proposition for the BJP to try and remind people in Delhi of 1984 – when Sikhs in Punjab are looking to have a “Modi-Mukt” state. The Sikhs are also not fooled by BJP’s nationalism, coupled with their anti-minorities agenda. There may be no love for the Congress, but there is a clear political assessment of the dangers of a majoritarian regime that may deteriorate historic and pragmatic relations across the border. Hate is not a solution, but a perpetuation, of the tragedies of history. Those who have suffered it know it. The next interesting thing Rahul said, that drew the attention of his astute interviewer, was his desire to “destroy the self” in politics. To begin with, it is a project of the annihilation of the ego. Rahul passionately explained his desire to obliterate his own “voice” when faced with, or in the presence of, others, and other voices. Taking the example of the farmer, Rahul tried to explain, that only when he will be able to obliterate, to erase, his own voice in the presence of the farmer, will he be able to listen to the farmer’s “pure agony”. He extended this to mean the worker, the journalist, and anyone he meets, or faces. It is a project of ethical selfhood, where the voice (and presence) of the other takes precedence over the egoistic voice of the self. There are echoes here of Gandhi, where Gandhi spoke of realising the truth in his experience of “meeting the peasants (at Champaran)” where he came “face to face with God, Ahimsa and Truth.” It is a language less religious and more ethical, when you consider the material ground of its unfolding. Rahul added an important element of voice in this encounter. You strain to hear something that is higher than you. You elevate yourself to hear it. It is an ethical process of lifting oneself from the deaf room of the narcissist ego that only knows how to hear itself, and lean towards the other voice, the contrarian voice who speaks something else, not always to your advantage, or for your pleasure, but something more demanding. Also read: Backstory: Five Years of the Silence of the Lambs Rahul showed admirable keenness to get closer to the feelings and thoughts of his interlocutor. The interpretation of Rahul’s language does not assume that a politician necessarily lives by his principles. The political connection between speech and actions is a spurious and contentious one, marked by the vagaries of time and the limits posed by instrumentality. But nevertheless, the interpretation is necessary to elucidate, and bring to notice, in a country where in the last five years political language has reached its nadir. There is nothing particularly inspiring in the discourse of mainstream Indian politics today. Barring marginal voices like Jignesh Mewani and Kanhaiya Kumar. In such a scenario, it is heartening to hear Rahul being anxious to recover the ethical language that had fled from Indian politics. Modi’s conceited responses Rahul’s open interviews to the press propelled Modi into giving his first ever proper political interview, after becoming the PM, to the Indian Express today. In contrast to Rahul’s desire to improve the democratic discourse, Modi’s attitude smacked of arrogance. He lectured his interviewers on stories the newspaper had failed to “follow-up” on. He took another jibe at the newspaper for bringing up the INS Viraat issue (about the BJP paying huge amounts for Modi’s “non-official domestic trips”). The prime minister appeared anxious about how his “image” was represented in newspapers like the Indian Express. In Modi’s understanding, anything that is written in disfavour amounts to bias, rather than a legitimate expression of press freedom. A newspaper’s prerogative is the protection of truth, not the protection of a politician’s self-image.<doc-sep>Propaganda website The Quint, which is often caught lying and pandering to Rahul Gandhi, got the opportunity to interview Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Raghav Bahl, founder of The Quint tweeted proudly that Rahul Gandhi had not asked The Quint to provide him with a list of questions beforehand. He also tweeted that this was a refreshing change and unusual in the times of ‘choreographed propaganda times’. For all doubters, I must clarify that @RahulGandhi office never asked for a list of questions. And when we sprung on them saying we shall go live, they did not bat an eyelid. Quite unusual in today’s choreographed propaganda times! https://t.co/fp1guAN9gF — Raghav Bahl (@Raghav_Bahl) May 17, 2019 The media, which has traditionally been subservient to the Gandhis have often shied away from asking tough questions. One recalls interviews where the journalist asked him about his dog, Pidi, or when the current chief of Editors Guild asked Sonia Gandhi about her pasta tossing skills, or when Rajdeep Sardesai asked Sonia Gandhi about her cooking for her mother-in-law, the list, is truly endless. Today, when the media waltz around with their nose in the clouds and head in the sand, talking about the freedom of press and democracy being upheld by tough journalism, the media, that has been consumed not just by its vanity but also its shameless brazenness, sits demurely in front of the crowned-by-default Prince and asks arrant questions that add nothing to the country’s political discourse whatsoever, other than furthering the Prince’s propaganda. The Quint interview of Rahul Gandhi was no different. Raghav Bahl showed just how much the media was willing to crawl when it is asked to bend. The Counters that were not Bahl tweeted that Rahul Gandhi had become a ‘consummate politician’ when he refused to answer the question about how flexible he was when it comes to forming an alliance to ensure that the NDA stays far away from the seats of power. On NYAY Then, comes NYAY. Rahul Gandhi’s pet never-to-take-off-screw-India-two-ways-to-Sunday scheme. Bahl at the outset gives Rahul a hint as to where the interview is going with regards to this scheme. He says he is a strong proponent of welfare economics and supports the NYAY scheme. Bahl’s concern is that Rahul will have to better the economy to fund NYAY. Rahul, in turn, throws around random words which gave no concrete information whatsoever. “Change”. “We need new policies”. “Not too much change from the past but different approach”, “paradigm shift”, and what not. Bahl, sat there grinning like a blithering idiot, much like Rahul. Rahul then says that an economy is based on transactions, and India has so many people that we can have lots of transactions and Modi destroyed transactions. That is his yardstick of an economy. Just that. More transactions. Bahl never bothered to ask Rahul about the NYAY scam that is brewing in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where fake forms are being distributed to fool the gullible. He never asked him about the proof that Rahul Gandhi knew about the fake forms being distributed. He never asked him about his aide, Sam Pitroda, calling the middle-class selfish for not wanting to cough up the money for NYAY. Or his trusted adviser saying that they will levy inflation tax to fund NYAY. He never asked Rahul about the soaring GDP right now and down-in-the-dumps GDP during Congress’ tenure. When Rahul Gandhi talks about employment generations, Bahl never asked him how, in his manifesto, Rahul has basically taken ideas already implemented by the Modi government, like the ones for start-ups. But, of course, this was a brave, non-scripted interview. Indian Economy Rahul Gandhi talks about remonetisation of a demonetised economy, and Raghav Bahl says he agrees. Bahl never asked him that if most of the money came back into the system and the level of circulation has reached the pre-demonetisation level, where is the questions of remonetisation? In fact, when talking about deregulation, Bahl repeated the “won’t ask questions for 3 years” line taken by Rahul, that has already been implemented by the Modi government. GST When Rahul Gandhi talks about GST, Bahl never asks him why Congress actively tried to stop the reduction of rates for several items. Not one question. Loans of Industrialists ‘waived off’ Rahul Gandhi shameless repeats the lie that Modi waived off over Rs. 5 lakh crores of big industrialists. The “journalists” don’t bother asking him whether he even knows the difference between loan waiver and loans being written off by banks. The fact is, most of the bad debt owed by the corporate sector are from the UPA era, and the Modi government has brought in revolutionary reforms in resolving NPAs. The government had introduced the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to resolve the issue, and it had already recovered Rs 3 lakh crores in just two years. Bahl managed to ask if Rahul Gandhi was ready for big changes like making structural changes in the banking system. The answer he got? ‘We want a paradigm shift”. What did Bahl do? Move on. Surgical Strikes during the Congress regime Rahul Gandhi again claims that the Congress government conducted 6 surgical strikes. There was no counter. No mention of the RTI response that said no surgical strike was conducted prior to 2016 or that former Army Chiefs have destroyed the claim of previous surgical strikes. There was no mention of any of it. On the India-China Doklam stand-off The liar-in-chief-messiah-of-the-media Rahul Gandhi says that China gave a clear message to Modi during Doklam and Modi then went to China and bowed in front of the Chinese. The media that was crawling and rubbing its nose of Rahul’s boots never bothered to ask him why a parliamentary panel headed by Shashi Tharoor that included Rahul Gandhi concluded that the Modi government’s handling of Doklam was spot on. The panel, which also included Congress President Rahul Gandhi, had stated that the Indian government managed to send the necessary signals to China that India will not acquiesce its unilateral and forceful attempts to change the status quo at any of India’s territorial boundaries. Bahl never asked.<doc-sep>
Ravish Kumar has interviewed Rahul Gandhi. The interview was so full of hot air and devoid of substance that it if it is filled inside a balloon, both Rahul and Ravish can fly around Delhi for a whole day. The fact that Ravish Kumar has been suffering from a strange paranoia that has taken him to desperate levels in his hatred and fear against PM Modi is perhaps known to everyone. Rahul’s empty grandstanding and hollow statements are also common knowledge. However, when these two people unite, the result was so predictable that it was almost funny. Congress president Rahul Gandhi speaks to NDTV’s Ravish Kumar after his rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur#NDTVExclusive #RGtoRavish https://t.co/uctBhounaY — NDTV (@ndtv) May 11, 2019 Ravish Kumar has been whining and literally exploding with frustration in his TV show complaining why does not the media ask tough questions to PM Modi. PM Modi has given over a dozen interviews in recent months and has answered each and every question that was thrown at him with a detailed explanation and a remarkable poise that is his forte. However, when Ravish got hold of Rahul Gandhi, all he could ask was does Rahul get emotional when Modi slams his father, grandmother and great-grandfather and has the Congress defended Nehru enough. These are the 10 most outlandish and asinine things Rahul said in his interview o Ravish Kumar. PM Modi ignored and dismissed RBI’s ‘intelligence and experience’ when he banned 500 and 1000 rupees notes. The need and effect of demonetisation have been extensively discussed. Rahul Gandhi should have realised long back that had the people of India been upset over the November 2016 demonetisation, they would never have given BJP overwhelming election victories in the assembly elections in several states that had followed. If anything, demonetisation was a thumping example of the fact that if a nation believes in the leader it has chosen, it would stand by him through all difficulties. If by RBI, Rahul Gandhi means the opinion of Raghuram Rajan, well, that is a whole different story in itself. All citizens of the country have told me that they are scared of RSS’ ideology and there is some ‘strange power’ that is controlling the nation. Well, Lutyen’s media and ecosystem durbaris do not represent India’s people. This statement makes Rahul only sound like Arundhati Roy and her ilk, who often cite their imaginary friends to claim Muslims are scared in India. We will protect everyone, if even RSS members say that they are being attacked, we will help them too. It was a Congress government in Karnataka where dozens of RSS leaders were brutally killed. RSS members have been killed and attacked in Kerala, West Bengal too. Congress had never bothered. I have always stated that Manmohan Singh will run the government with full freedom and I will never interfere. The torn fragments of ordnance scattered inside the parliament beg to differ. The National Advisory Council (NAC) begs to differ. The fact that Manmohan Singh’s prime ministership was Sonia Gandhi’s rule is something, not even Congress’ loyal journalists ever debate over. I want to destroy Rahul Gandhi. I want to destroy the self and make sure that only the pain of a farmer remains, or something like that. Rahul said that he does not want Rahul Gandhi’s name to remain. He wants to make sure that the name of Rahu Gandhi does not stay when he is talking to a poor farmer but only the voice of the farmer remains. He also said that he wants to make sure that when he is speaking to Ravish Kumar only Ravish Kumar’s voice is heard and his feelings are expressed. While he was speaking about ‘destroying the self’, Rahul Gandhi said, “Rahul Gandhi” at least 9 times. Rahul Gandhi also cut Ravish off mid-sentence and insisted that he wants only Ravish’ voice to be heard, twice. Rahul Gandhi kept on saying that he wants to hear and understand others, without letting Ravish speak. Rahul Gandhi is the irony that only Rahul Gandhi can understand. We give up. We used an economic model that was started in the 1990s. It worked very well in 2004 and 2009. It was stopped in 2012. But Modi has picked up the same model.