29 January 2014, 02:51 PM IST
It's a bit late in the day, but after resisting for a day, couldn't hold back from commenting on the most eagerly awaited political interview in the country in a while, where my colleague Arnab Goswami took on the scion of the oldest and largest political party of India, Congress. As was expected, the reactions to the interview are polarised – It was great to it was lacking in content; it was well handled to it was the massacre of the innocent; from none had the guts to sit through such intense grilling to he could take questions, for he couldn't understand them.
There probably is a bit of truth in all these assessments. The Congress party can perhaps take some heart from the fact that although Rahul Gandhi has made a habit of taking on the very establishment over which he has lorded over for years, he still did not come across as a put on. There was sincerity. Even the mumbles and disjointed responses made him look human, that perhaps some of his own partymen, who have placed him on a pedestal, refuse to see.
But while not letting him off the hook for some pretty obvious flaws, there is a lot else that those who are his advisors and mentors need to do. My reference is especially to those who need to hide behind his powerful surname to maintain their own relevance in politics, those who need to ensure that Rahul Gandhi is always held up as a uniting force, so that their own home is not shattered.
A very senior journalist friend, whose dad was close to Indira Gandhi, had this to say after seeing the interview: Rahul Gandhi's interview with Arnab Goswami reminded me how intensively and comprehensively Indira Gandhi used to prepare for her TV interviews, in stark contrast to her grandson. He should know. His dad was one of the key persons in the team that used to brief her.
The point is, did Rahul Gandhi's team brief him the way he should have been? For, although it did seem he had prepared himself when it came to issues that are supposedly dear to him – systems, women empowerment and also his government's 'achievements' over the past ten years, he seemed ill-prepared when it came to some of the pointed questions and also the unrelated answers that he gave.
More importantly, knowing the kind of grilling that Arnab is now known for, his team should have gone through the possible counter-questions that came his way. As was seen, where Rahul Gandhi fumbled, some say floundered, the most was on issues such as taking on Narendra Modi for PM or the 1984 anti-Sikh riots vis a vis the Godhara riots..
It is these fumbles that gave ammo to his detractors, for an unprepared for such cross-questioning Rahul was forced to admit that "some Congress men were probably involved" in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.
Clearly, these were not the questions that could be deflected with a single line or counter questioning by Rahul himself about the superficiality in the issues Arnab was raising while not discussing more important issues like women empowerment etc. It was made worse when Arnab told him pointedly that the interview's objective was to raise and get his response to issues that wouldn't be discussed otherwise, for the things that Rahul wants to raise can be heard in his speeches, anyway.
And this was not all. There was a lot else that he seemed unprepared for. The most obvious one was about his assertion that "I am absolutely against the concept of Dynasty, anybody who knows me knows that and understands that." Now, even if he really meant it, he perhaps could have handled it better, for, people in this country now increasingly believe what they see, not what they are told, thankfully.
The other one that comes to mind is his response to the questions on scams and his response: My position was that I report to the Prime Minister. Whatever I felt I had conversations with the Prime Minister. Whatever I felt about the issues I made it abundantly clear to the Prime Minister. I was involved in the legislation, RTI legislation. And now I have helped pass the Lokpal Bill.
Seemed like a smart answer, but immediately made it look as if it was the Prime Minister who was to blame for any inaction or delay on the government's part, whereas anything good that happened was solely due to his efforts. Perhaps true, but it didn't come across the way it could have.
In a nutshell, kudos to Rahul to agree to an interview when most others shy away, but his team has a lot of brushing up to do. Given that he was speaking in English and the audience was different, these fumbles did more harm than good and allowed him to become a butt of jokes on the social media. An opportunity like this does not come easily and was wasted. For them the advise is: It is simply not good enough to hide behind his name and yet not do the hard work that is necessary to ensure the name is not tarnished.
Also read: Full text of Rahul Gandhi's interview
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1 komentar:
At first, he was appeared as if he was as prepared as to someone who invented the word "preparedness" but something just went wrong. Rahul Gandhi Interview has become a sensation and viral... not in a good way though, but very pretty hilarious can't helped but to share some of the jokes netizens made for it. Wow, that was pretty hilarious!
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