Speaking at Democracy Wall, Pilot said that politicians, including those from dynasties, couldn’t take their careers for granted.
Bengaluru: Dynastic politics doesn’t always help a political leader in India, and a large number of dynasts in India don’t get elected, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said Tuesday.
“Dynastic politics is not democratic, 88 per cent of dynasts don’t get elected,” Pilot said.
Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot was in conversation with Mahrukh Inayet, contributing editor at ThePrint, at the second edition of Democracy Wall.
Democracy Wall is a monthly free speech campus initiative organised by ThePrint in collaboration with Facebook. The second edition of the event at Jain University in Bengaluru featured Pilot, rapper Sofia Ashraf, actor Huma Qureshi, political commentator Meghnad, IPS officer D. Roopa and comedian Aravind S.A.
Pilot, who is presently the head of the Congress’s Rajasthan’s unit, said that family names have little to do with how people win elections, or how they are judged as politicians.
“I can’t control where I am born, but I expect my country to judge me on who I am, not my family,” Pilot said.
“You may get irritated seeing the same name decade after decade. But if there is a better alternative, people will automatically choose that,” he said.
On the advantages and disadvantages of being privileged
Pilot said being privileged was both an advantage and disadvantage in politics. It helps to be known, but it also puts you under a lot of scrutiny, he said.
“It’s not like you become chairman of a company and stay there for 50 years. The voters of this country are unforgiving if you don’t perform,” Pilot said.
Pilot stressed on the ruthlessness of elections, saying that politicians can’t take their careers for granted
“Politics isn’t a permanent job. If you don’t do well in five years, you are out. It’s not a job where you can take things for granted,” he said.
On the stereotypical politician undergoing a change
Speaking about the stereotypes of politicians in the country being old, white-haired and mostly corrupt, Pilot said India will see a change.
“In the next five to seven years there will be a paradigm shift in the age profile, the character and the working of politicians,” he said.
Pilot said he might be younger than the average Indian politician, but did agree there was a common perception that politicians are old and corrupt.
“The perception isn’t unfounded. How politicians are perceived is also a factor of how we have presented ourselves,” the Congress leader said.
There are many politicians who do not deserve to be seen in a good light, but doesn’t mean there aren’t hard working and honest politicians,” Pilot said.
On a lighter note, Pilot said the idea of politicians in people’s minds comes from Bollywood films of the 1980s and ’90s.
“We think of them as paan-chewing, pot-bellied because Bollywood cinema portrays them as such,” he said.
On Rahul Gandhi’s elevation to Congress president
Pilot defended the elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the post of Congress party president and said it was a unanimous decision.
“The decision of the party has been made, and no one forced it on us,” the Congress MP said.
Pilot said that there may be differing opinions within the Congress party on issues, but they are debated, and a majority consensus is formed which everyone abides by.
Pilot said the Congress had introspected deeply after its crushing loss in the 2014 general elections, and was moving ahead.
“We accepted the mandate of the people. In three-and-a-half years we have done a lot of introspection and tried to portray a formidable opposition,” Pilot said.
On the Nirav Modi-PNB scam
Pilot talked about the farmer suicides across the country and how it is being politicised.
“People who owe Rs 4-5 lakh to the bank, out of their own self-respect and dignity are taking their lives, while those who owe thousands of crores run away,” he said, alluding to the PNB fraud and Nirav Modi.
He said under Manmohan Singh’s UPA government many people were lifted out of poverty, and it wasn’t like the country did not progress at all.
“140 million people were lifted from abject poverty during Manmohan Singh’s government. Rs 72,000 crore of small farmer loans were waived,” he said.
Pilot said it was not about “the BJP or the Congress”, but what the government can do for its people.