New Delhi: Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh Monday said he cannot predict whether Rahul Gandhi would be the next prime minister if Congress was voted to power.
Speaking at ThePrint’s Democracy Wall event, Vallabh said, “I think Rahul Gandhi was one of the eligible people in our party for the post of prime minister. But when people mandated UPA I and II into power we had decided that Manmohan Singh was the best possible candidate. So I can’t tell you right now if Rahul Gandhi will be the next PM.”
Democracy Wall is a free speech initiative, the latest edition of which was held Monday at the Jindal Global University in Haryana.
Vallabh shot into limelight after his takedown of BJP leader Sambit Patra over the number of zeroes in one trillion, during a debate on a Hindi channel in September.
At Monday’s event, he also stressed on the need to strengthen the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) — Congress’ flagship scheme — even as he attacked the BJP government’s renaming spree.
“You had a problem with Mahatma Gandhi’s name…so if you want to name it Nathuram Godse REGA then make it, but try and give some solutions.”
The Congress leader also defended Rahul’s vacations abroad by saying it was the latter’s personal choice. “He is a Wayanad MP and when the floods were there, he was there for more than 10 days in the last three months. Why aren’t people asking why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bangkok? He might be going for his own meditation or personal issues,” Vallabh said.
Also read: Behind Sambit Patra’s struggle with trillion’s zeroes, a Congressman who was XLRI professor
Congress failed to make voters aware about NYAY
The 42-year-old spokesperson, who is a former professor of finance at the premier XLRI management institute and has authored over 50 international publications, also admitted that the Congress failed to make its Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) reach voters.
The Congress had assured the poor a minimum of Rs 6,000 per month or Rs 72,000 a year through the NYAY scheme. “We just couldn’t generate faith that this is doable or communicate what this was all about, which is why we didn’t do very well,” he added.
Vallabh also responded to a question on Congress’ frequent opposition to various central government initiatives. “When we opposed demonetisation, faulty implementation of goods and services tax (GST) and the regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP), we gave constructive criticisms.”
‘One name to rule them all’
When asked if he had aspirations to be a party president, Vallabh cited three factors that would determine his decision — gratitude towards Gandhi for trusting him, his own lack of political experience, and how “some decisions were taken by family members”.
“The Congress party has a family…there is a consensus building, there’s democracy in that political system. Believe me or not, you ask any Congress worker, what name unites you what name excites you, what name gives you energy to fight – he will give only one name,” added the politician.
Vallabh also said how becoming the party president was “directly related to one’s experience”.
Jharkhand is ‘ready for change’
On the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections, the Jamshedpur-native said the “state is ready for change”.
“The Ranchi-Jamshedur road, which is the lifeline of Jharkhand, has holes the size of an Innova car. Earlier the state was one of the most advanced in terms of education, according to data by the Ministry of Human Resource Development…but in the last five years, 5,400 schools were closed and 5,600 wine shops opened because they want to promote alcohol tourism from Bihar.”
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