“The CBI has become the state’s parrot. Only screaming, repeating the master’s voice,” Justice R.M. Lodha said on May 8, urging the government to strengthen the agency’s independence.

The CBI denied the accusations and emphasized its impartiality.

Reuters India Online spoke to various experts for their views on whether the CBI was indeed a “caged parrot” and if yes, how best to ensure it could withstand political pressure. Excerpts:

JOGINDER SINGH, former CBI chief

“Give it a constitutional status like the CAG, Election Commission. But if anybody is in apprehension that it will become a master, then have an oversight committee with a retired chief justice of India as the chairman, members of parliament from all sides – whatever number the government may fix here – to review its working every six months. As well as let its report be placed on the table of the parliament as is done in the case of CAG. The big question is will the government do or won’t it do? That is something which only the government can answer.”

KIRAN BEDI, activist and former police officer
“The short-listing is done by the department of personnel. It should be more open … Let them look at five years of total seniority, who’s worked at the CBI, who’s got the best of experience, pick up the best. So this is where they probably would have held the strings from the back door. That should be avoided.”

KARUNA NUNDY, Supreme Court lawyer
“Look, the CBI can’t be a free-floating independent agency. For it to not be the fiefdom of a top cop and his friends, it has to be accountable to either government or parliament. The coal fracas shows quite clearly though that different lines of accountability need to be explored, because the government’s administrative control over the CBI incentivises both parties to allow interference in investigation. The Supreme Court’s drawing of firm lines in the existing structure is entirely correct – as for a better structure of accountability, parliament can and should make that happen.”

AMULYA GANGULI, political analyst
“The problem is that it has been because of the declining standards of politicians and bureaucrats, the CBI has lost its professionalism … now it has become a caged parrot and there is a need to enable a return to professionalism which was what the Supreme Court ordered for the police also. It called for police reforms in 2006. The reforms should also be extended to all these institutions … One way will be to ensure a fixed term of a few years for the main incharge. Also, the process of nomination shouldn’t be left only in the hands of the government. The selection should also involve the opposition and also the judiciary so that men of integrity are chosen.”

D.R. KAARTHIKEYAN, former director of CBI
“I would say there is an absolute need for insulating all investigation agencies in the country, particularly the premier investigative agency CBI, from any external undue influence or interference … How is it done in the USA and UK? Nobody questions the impartiality, integrity, objectivity of the investigations done in USA or UK. We must try to find out all those instruments of legislation or executive orders that are issued that makes it possible for the FBI to function with objectivity and impartiality … Appointment of the director of CBI has to be done in the most transparent manner. A transparent process should be adopted, then you give him absolute authority and make him accountable to the court or by way of periodical reports to the parliament.”

PRAKASH SINGH, former BSF chief and police reforms campaigner

“CBI should be given statutory status comparable to that of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The CBI director should be appointed by a collegium comprising the prime minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition.”

(Ankush Arora and Aditya Kalra contributed to this post)

(Follow Shashank on Twitter @shashankchouhan)

For more than 30 years, Mike Pandey has been a man with a mission. In its special issue on Heroes of the Environment in 2009, Time magazine credited the maker of wildlife documentaries with efforts to protect “everything from whale sharks to elephants, vultures to medicinal plants.”

In 1994, Pandey became the first Asian film-maker to win the Wildscreen Panda Award, better known as the Green Oscar, for his film on the capture of wild elephants. He also won the award twice in the next decade.

In April this year, Pandey was honoured at an event to mark 100 years of Indian cinema. His latest film, a docudrama on India’s dwindling tiger numbers, has a Bollywood connection – and features Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham.

Pandey spoke to Reuters India Online on making documentaries, why he stayed away from Bollywood cinema all this while and how his latest effort “The Return of the Tiger” hit a stumbling block in Madhya Pradesh. Excerpts from the interview.

Q: You started out as a documentary film-maker in the 1970s when nobody was aware of conservation in India. How tough was it back then?

A: I think it was very, very difficult because there was no funding or support available. Even bureaucratic support was missing because if there are no whales in their record books, they said then what am I talking about (about conserving them)? There could be no funding. I am glad that I was here at the right time and the right place. We were stubborn, we did not give up. It was frustrating at times because many times there was a red tape wall between you and your subjects.

Q: Why did you choose and actively pursue documentary film-making when Bollywood was an option?

A: I am a student of serious cinema and that was missing in Bollywood. People were looking for box-office masala hits and fantasies and song and drama. I think I would have preferred to make films that were closer to life rather than selling dreams and fantasies with people running around trees and playing Mickey Mouse … Documentaries offered me that platform where I could make films of substance. Films are really a perception of a director’s perception of life and they need to be thought-provoking. So I wanted to make films like the Guru Dutts and Bimal Roys. They were the giants who were making films that I would have liked to make.

Q: Being unpredictable, does nature allow a perfect film to be made?

A: I think making a feature film is very easy because if you miss a shot, you can reshoot it; there can be 50 retakes. But when you are making a documentary like “The Last Migration”, there are wild elephants being captured and the camera is on your shoulder, there is no tripod, there are no rehearsals. You don’t know what’s going to happen and that’s when your experience pays off. If an elephant comes tumbling down crushing through the undergrowth … and if you haven’t got the shot, you can’t ask the elephant to go back and do a retake. You have lost it. So if you aren’t there on your toes and you can’t pre-empt and you don’t know enough about jungle craft or behaviour of animals, then you can’t make a wildlife film.

Q: What is your take on the stand-off between various ministries and the environment ministry on the development and conservation debate?

A: Development cannot be at the cost of environment. We all, whether it is the prime minister or a farmer, we need the environment to survive. We are not going to eat iron ore or diamonds all the time, we need food and water. For too long, the world has been moving on at a mindless speed. There has to be a scientific approach to development.

Q: Where have you seen climate and wildlife being affected by development activities?

A: Look at Goa, Karnataka – the mining activity there has left thousands of villages without water. If you look at Himachal Pradesh, thousands of farmers have moved to higher altitudes because their crops don’t grow at lower altitudes any more (because of climate change). Leopards and tigers have been killed in jungles because of which monkeys and wild boar population has grown, creating trouble for farmers … These are all indicators that we are abusing and not using (nature).

Q: Why isn’t the documentary format more popular in India?

A: Films need their distribution system. Documentaries are value-based, meaningful tools that can help inform and empower but, just like education, they may not be entertaining. There was a system in India where documentaries used to be shown before every film show by the Films Division but there were a lot of protests. Lots of people just wanted to see dance and dramas and even film-makers wanted that time for advertisements. Even the state broadcaster has become a revenue-generating channel. Why can’t the concerned ministries like health, culture, etc. support the channel so that it can run and carry information to people where it is required. There is a need for political will and corporate support like in other countries.

Q: Now you are making “Return of the Tiger” with Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham. Tell us about this project.

A: John Abraham is a dear friend of mine; he loves animals. We have been working for elephants in Maharashtra. One day, we were talking and thought that the tiger has been dying … despite it being a criminal offence to kill the tiger. So we thought the best thing to do is to inform people why it is important to save the tiger. “The Return of the Tiger” would be a 90-minute docudrama which John is producing. Amitabh Bachchan offered his services and support saying he would like to be involved in whichever capacity, that he would lend his voice, chase poachers in a jeep if required. So his voice will be there and John will be an anchor and a link.

The unfortunate part is we have been trying for 2-1/2 years to get permission to shoot in Madhya Pradesh and the government, despite the fact that we are an NGO and have a track record like no other in the world, wants to charge us 45,000 rupees (about $825) per camera, which makes it 85,000 rupees (about $1560) per day in filming fees. The paradox is the government itself is not doing anything to protect or conserve or speak out for the tiger. When I am trying to do something positive which will benefit my country and planet, stumbling blocks are being created. Of all the projects that I have worked upon, I think “Return of the Tiger” is the toughest because I have to deal with humans.

Q: As a film-maker how do you look at the journey of movies as Bollywood completes 100 years this year?

A: We started making films almost along with the Western world but with the British Raj being there, there were limitations of equipment etc. and post-independence equipment was not so easily available. But today we are at par with the best, we have come far. Even with sub-standard equipment, we have churned out lots of films which are powerful. Today we are the largest film industry in the world, producing almost 3000 films a year. Times have changed, technology has revolutionised everything. We can see our people winning the Oscars. In the next 10 years, we will see a sea change with a new generation of films being made. I feel very optimistic with the new crop of filmmakers.

(Follow Shashank on Twitter @shashankchouhan )

During Gujarat’s elections last year, incumbent Chief Minister Narendra Modi used 3D technology to appear at more than one political rally simultaneously. Now re-elected, the man has increased his omnipresence, if such a thing is possible, with help from the media.

On April 8, Modi addressed the women’s wing of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The same evening, he was at Network18’s summit outlining his vision for India. The next day, Modi addressed businessmen in Kolkata, West Bengal. Later in the day, he delivered a fiery speech to his party people. All of these appearances got plenty of TV coverage, website analysis and Twitter attention.

Overexposure can be harmful at times. The media bombardment during the BJP’s India Shining campaign in 2004 is one example. When the election results were out, it appeared people got tired of the campaign being in their face all the time.

“Modi is made for media at the moment; it’s an incestuous relationship where both are feeding off each other… but yes, there is a danger of the ‘novelty’ factor wearing off if he speaks virtually day in and day out,” said Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief of the IBN18 Network.

Shaili Chopra, business editor for Tehelka magazine, made a similar point. “Agreed he is addressing different constituencies, but really, who has got the mind space to keep chasing him down.”

His repeated addresses and appearances outside Gujarat certainly make it seem like he is positioning himself for India’s top job. But what could the strategy be? How much more do people need to get to know him? Image guru Dilip Cherian has an interesting view. He thinks the constant media appearances are aimed at his party, and not at swing voters or undecided voters. “He cannot keep up this pace,” Cherian said, while explaining how Modi’s speeches are aimed at sending a message to internal party members, who haven’t decided who will be their prime minister candidate for 2014.

However, even if it is targeted at his party, the strategy has risks. Fissures in the BJP have re-appeared with a section of the party pitching veteran leader LK Advani as a possible candidate. Many think that Modi has grown larger than the party itself, and needs to be controlled.

The BJP calls the phenomenon merely a renewed interest in issues of development, governance and the role of government. “Modi doesn’t engage with people on the advice of image consultants,” said Smriti Irani, the newly appointed vice-president of BJP and a former TV soap queen. “In a democracy one needs to welcome the leadership which directly engages with people,” added the MP from Gujarat.

The media campaign is also supported by others. “As an image consultant I would say that any kind of publicity is good – negative or positive. He has surfaced from Gujarat as a national leader; any kind of publicity is working to his advantage,” believes Pria Warrick, a former Miss India America who runs a finishing school where corporate and budding politicians learn how to behave in the public eye.

Her only issue with Modi – addressing the FICCI businesswomen dressed in their Versaces and Louis Vuittons as ‘mata and behen’ and not being dressed to the occasion. That, of course, calls for a separate blog that may be tentatively titled: The would-be emperor’s new clothes.

(Follow Shashank on Twitter @shashankchouhan )

The members of Praagaash, an all-girl band in Kashmir, split up this week after an influential cleric deemed their music un-Islamic. Zila Khan, one of India’s most popular sufi singers and daughter of sitar maestro Vilayat Khan, spoke to Reuters about how singing is closest to worship and meditation and how children should be allowed to sing.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Questions about Grand Mufti of Kashmir and Islam are best answered by experts in the field of religion. I am an expert in music, it will be no use pondering on subjects that I am not an authority on. There will be more experts to say better things on this issue. I can, however, talk about music, on my journey as a singer and the issue of women’s rights.

Obviously, I feel children should sing.

I feel the art of music and especially singing is the highest form of art in the world and in the cosmic cycle. To have the ilm (idea) and knowledge of this art is itself a blessing because it is much higher than any other form of art or work as such.

Music, and especially singing, is the closest to ibadat (worship) and meditation. This can also transport you into another world, meaning it can connect you to God, to Allah in a direct, beautiful, easier manner… this is what Sufism is all about.

I have gone through ups and downs in my life with some male family members objecting to my singing. Some had gone to the extent of saying, because of their jealously, that my father did not formally teach me music. My office put up a clip from a documentary film on my father Ustad Vilayat Khan on YouTube. He is seen making me a formal student in front of Naushad (Ali) sahib, Dilip Kumar uncle … All of them were there when he tied a thread around my wrist and formally made me his student. This means I am one of his successors.

Music greats like Hariprasad Chaurasia ji, Ghulam Ali chacha, Yamini Krishnamurthy ji, Amjad Ali chacha said I had done great khidmat (service) for my father and had learnt the most from him. I share this story so that everybody — be it those who are religious, farmers or urbanites or traditionalists, etc. — understands that they should encourage their daughter as much as their sons to do any kind of work but with dignity, respectability and honour.

This is to encourage those who are in two minds about becoming an artiste. An artiste can be more respected if he conducts himself with dignity. I have done that all these years and that is the reason that a traditionalist and purist like Ustad Vilayat Khan made me his student. I am the only daughter whom he made his student. I am the first girl in the whole family who was allowed to sing outside the house.

Nobody can stop you if you engage in art with dignity.

(Follow Shashank Chouhan on Twitter @shashankchouhan )

If not a direct declaration of grand political ambition, the nearly one-hour speech at the Shri Ram College of Commerce sounded like a pitch for a national role: here was the chief minister of Gujarat talking about development to more than a thousand students in New Delhi, staying away from the usual and divisive political overtones, repeatedly referring to the youth of the country (future voters), and outlining his vision for India.

“The whole world is looking at India as a big marketplace. Why? Because they (other countries) think they can sell here easily. It is the demand of our time to make India a leader in manufacturing and dump our goods in the world market,” Modi said, according to our report on the Reuters news wire.

In December he won a fourth consecutive term in office, and since then many in his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s main opposition group, have called for him to lead the party in national elections due by early 2014.

In contrast, outside the college gates a crowd of students protested against Modi. Police used water cannons and batons to disperse protesters, one of the protesters told us.

That’s what you get with Modi – love him or hate him, be it in the heart of Delhi’s higher education hub or on Twitter. Tweets ranged from: “@goonerRish: Just heard the Modi speech at #srcc..#inspired if there is one guy who understands the youth pov regarding the country” to ” @sachmore123: #Modi is a strong leader who cudn’t stop the riots 4 months & still can’t rehabilitate the victims.Some leadership, uh??”

Modi until now has not been a uniter. As our Reuters story said, corporate India and Gujarat voters love him for “fast growth and clean governance,” and in December elected him to a fourth term as chief minister. Still, deadly religious riots in Gujarat have tarnished his record after about 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed.

Analysts say Modi’s talk about modernisation and development is a bid to enlist more support from a wider community, something that could help any prime ministerial ambitions that he might harbour, but that he continues to offer subtle hints at his own views on Gujarat’s Muslim minority. Sample this from speech: “Gujarat was never an agricultural state. Earlier it meant a desert. We have always had registan (desert) and next door Pakistan.”

While the debate on Modi’s suitability for prime minister will continue until the Bharatiya Janata Party names its candidate, Modi in one speech demonstrated how easily he connects with the public. Top Congress leaders such as Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are better known for keeping quiet. (Here’s a Twitter joke making the rounds today: @Roflindian: Rahul to [Manmohan Singh], on phone – “Sir, did you listen to Modi’s speech today?” MMS – *silence*. Rahul – “Oh ok. Just wanted to check.”)

“Modi’s performance at SRCC was impressive. There are no such speakers in the Congress party,” said political analyst Amulya Ganguli. But that in itself may not help Modi as he will need not only the wholehearted support of his own party but also that of their allied parties.

While Wednesday’s speech may be considered an important moment in the emergence of the Gujarat leader on the national front, the real work will be convincing his party that he has convinced the people that he is the right choice to lead India in 2014.

(Follow Shashank Chouhan on Twitter @shashankchouhan )

President Pranab Mukherjee is a veteran Congress politician and has presented the last four budgets. His favourite authority to quote has been Kautilya, the great Indian pioneer of economics and politics who was prime minister in the court of King Chandragupta Maurya in the fourth century BC. Mukherjee quoted Kautilya in his first budget speech in 1984 and as recently as in 2010.

Thus, a wise Collector General shall conduct the work of revenue collection … in a manner that production and consumption should not be injuriously affected … financial prosperity depends on public prosperity, abundance of harvest and prosperity of commerce among other things

He invoked Lord Indra, the Hindu rain god, and prayed to the goddess of wealth Lakshmi in 2011:

While, like last year, I seek the blessings of Lord Indra to bestow on us timely and bountiful monsoons, I would pray to Goddess Lakshmi as well. I think it is a good strategy to diversify one’s risks

In his last stint as finance minister in 2012, Mukherjee quoted Hamlet:

I must be cruel only to be kind

Perhaps the best way to explain that is to take a line popularised by Mary Poppins: “When everything goes well with the economy, we all share in the joy. However, when things go wrong, it is the finance minister who is called upon to administer the medicine.” In other words, the finance minister’s job is to tell you that there’s no spoonful of sugar.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram likes to quote from ancient Indian texts, his favourite being the weaver-philosopher Tiruvalluvar who lived in his state of Tamil Nadu some 2,000 years ago. Chidambaram said in 2007:

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have devoted the last 15 minutes or so to agriculture. There is no dearth of schemes; there is no dearth of funds. What needs to be done is to deliver the intended outcomes. Saint Tiruvalluvar watches over us and warns: Uzhavinar kai madangin illai vizhaivathoom vittame enbarkum nilai (If ploughmen keep their hands folded, even sages claiming renunciation cannot find salvation)

Here’s another from 2008:

As always, I turned to my muse, Saint Tiruvalluvar, for guidance and reassurance. 2,000 years ago he set the benchmark for good governance in the following immortal words: Kodai ali esngol kudi ombal nangum, Udaiyanam vendharkku oli. (Generous grants, compassion, righteous rule and succour to the downtrodden are the hallmarks of good governance)

Chidambaram did not limit himself to Tiruvalluvar, leaning adequately on Jawaharlal Nehru (“Everything else can wait, but not agriculture“) and Henry David Thoreau (“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”) to make a point or two.

Even the usually quiet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is known to quote Urdu couplets on important occasions. In 1991, he reaffirmed his faith in a financially strained nation by invoking the poet Iqbal, who chose to live in Pakistan after the partition of India:

Yunaan-o-Misr-o-Roma, sab mitt gaye jahaan say/Ab tak magar hai baqi, naam-o-nishan hamara (Greece, Egypt, Rome have vanished all/But our name and sign live on)

Yashwant Sinha, finance minister in the first BJP-led government, announced measures for the film industry in true Bollywood style, using movie names in his budget of 2002:

It is time we brought about a fiscal regime to usher in more ‘Khushi’ (happiness) and take away the remaining ‘Gham’ (sadness) from the entertainment industry. ‘Filhal’ (for now) I shall have more to say on this in Part ‘B’ of my speech

 

Lalu Yadav, a lawmaker from Bihar, often leaves his audience laughing thanks to his rustic, jovial delivery. Here is a couplet, recited during his railway budget of 2008:

Everybody is appreciating that I have done a tremendous work; each and every year I have earned millions and millions every year. And they are saying … I have … uh … Lalu Yadav has planted a fruit tree, and every year it is duty of mine to grow fruit tree

The poetic performance was punctured with unabashed laughter from other lawmakers.

In 2007, while presenting his railway budget, he compared himself to Lord Krishna – in all humility, of course.

Lord Krishna was acclaimed as Giridhar when in a moment of crisis he lifted Mount Govardhan on his finger. However, he did this with the supporting hands of thousands of his fellow villagers … though people are giving me the credit for the turnaround of the railways, with all humility I would like to share with the house that this miracle has been possible because of the tireless efforts of 1.4 million railway employees

Mamata Banerjee’s rail budget speeches were more akin to admonishments. In 2011, she said:

Madam, while railways deliver on their promises, they are not good at publicity. This House and the nation do not come to know of our achievements or what we are doing. Hum aah bhee karte hain toh ho jaate hain badnaam, Woh katl bhee karte hain toh charcha nahi hota’. (We earn a bad name even if we moan/but there is not even any mention if they commit a murder.)

She has been accused of favouring her state of West Bengal in the railway budgets and lawmakers have often objected during her speeches. At such times, she asks them to shut up and listen, and threatens them with funding cuts in their constituencies:

What is your name, the one who is shouting, what is your name? My pronunciation will get messed up if I shout so let me go slowly. I am also a human being … I can’t satisfy all of you

(Follow Shashank Chouhan on Twitter @shashankchouhan )

Six months after the death of ‘India’s first superstar’, the central government honoured Rajesh Khanna with one of India’s highest civilian awards on the eve of the country’s 64^th Republic Day. Reports last month said the Bollywood actor might have been up for the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, but “Kaka” will get a Padma Bhushan, the third highest.

India awards the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri for distinguished service in fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering.

The process of putting together the list of awardees has been a secretive one ever since India introduced the awards in 1954. The criteria for the awards is not specific, mostly relying on wide-open phrases such as “exceptional and distinguished service”. There have been cases filed with the Supreme Court of India, a committee under a serving vice president has examined the issue, and much has been written in the media on it. The list of awardees often comes under criticism for being politically influenced. Only demands under right to information requests reveal who is on the committee that draws up the lists. Even then, the ministry is likely to advise the applicant to not share the information with the media and the public.

There is plenty of precedent to suggest that the government has awarded awards carelessly or frivolously or to return favors. Some media outlets question the validity of the government choosing winners in these fields at all. From DNA India:

…Is the government equipped to judge works of art, science, and literature? Does a private-sector entrepreneur with a negligible record of public service deserve a governmental honour? Doesn’t such an award compromise the independence and integrity of citizens beholden to criticise and protest against ill-advised government policies and actions? Do the truly great need any certificate for their greatness? MK Gandhi lost nothing for having been overlooked for the Nobel Peace prize.

Meanwhile, here are some of this year’s 108 awardees:

Padma Vibhushan:

Professor Yash Pal, scientist and educator.

Painter Haider Raza

Padma Bhushan:

Actor  and “Anand” star Rajesh Khanna (posthumous)

Film producer D Ramanaidu

Wrestler Sushil Kumar

Olympic Bronze medalist boxer Mary Kom

Actress Sharmila Tagore

Comedian and satirist Jaspal Bhatti (posthumous)

Padma Shri:

Actress Sridevi, recently the star of “English Vinglish”

Ramesh Sippy, director of films including the classic “Sholay”

Pop star Kailesh Kher

Paralympics athlete Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda

1. Hook the young ones: Gandhi is widely presented as the youthful face of the 128-year-old Congress party. At 42, he is the youngest leader in the highest ranks. With 70 percent of India’s population below the age of 35, today’s young people form an irresistible voting bloc to court.
2. Target Dalits and “backward” classes: Rahul Gandhi’s visits to the homes of Dalits and so-called backward classes, in particular in rural India, have been well recorded. You could say that it’s just politics and public relations, but Congress needs to show more support for groups that often gravitate toward smaller regional parties.
3. Duplicate NSUI and Youth Wing experiments: This means tackling what federal minister Jairam Ramesh called “structural problems” within Congress. Gandhi has brought about vital electoral and membership reforms in the Congress’s Youth Wing as well as its National Students Union of India, providing a wider gateway for people to enter politics. Many Congress delegates at the party’s meeting in Jaipur demanded similar progress. At the moment, members in the top Congress body are nominated, and candidates for election are usually hand picked by the party high command.
4. Image makeover: Congress needs an image makeover in the run-up to the parliamentary elections of 2014. Rahul Gandhi’s relatively clean image and straight-talk against graft could be the party’s hope at a time when corruption scandals threaten to end its 10-year rule at the center.
5. New alliances, preserving old friends: Who knew that lacking political experience would be a job qualification? Gandhi, with this important note on his CV, can forge new alliances and nurture old friendships that are prone to developing cracks.
6. The “Gandhi” name: The name and the party have been intertwined since India’s independence. Whether the brand value behind the name is good or bad is sometimes hard to say. Rahul Gandhi has a chance to eliminate the need to ask the question. If he can eliminate or minimize fighting among party members, this will help.
7. Ground realities: Congress has been accused of being out of touch with reality. Gandhi will need to project a friendly face and speak realistic words to help the party’s image.
8. Speaking of which… speak up: Though Rahul has been a politician for nine years, public speaking has not been his forte. He has rarely expressed his opinion on various burning topics. This has emboldened the opposition and given the media evidence to say that he is not ready for senior management. It’s time to share.
9. Lead India into the new century: A thumping victory in the 2014 elections with Gandhi as vice president and leader of the party’s campaign committee for the elections would be nice. Congress workers will hope that he will be the party’s prime ministerial candidate as well, a trump card in the face of regional and hostile forces such as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister (and former Congress ally) Mamata Banerjee. That said, some dreams may be a little too unrealistic for now.