Date:20/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/20/stories/2008082053011700.htm

National

Rahul: my father believed in people

Aarti Dhar

He said this when I once asked him, `papa why don't you quit politics'

- PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY

REMEMBERING RAJIV: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi releasing a book titled `Memories of Rajiv Gandhi' written by Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on the eve of Rajiv Gandhi's 64th birth anniversary in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: "My father believed in the people of India and he saw empowerment of these people as his mission," Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said here on Tuesday. The Panchayati Raj Institution movement was initiated because Rajiv Gandhi wanted to empower millions of people, and he brought about the Information Technology revolution to connect these millions of people, the MP said, recounting one of the election tours with his father in 1990.

Releases book

Speaking after releasing a book Rajiv ki Smritiyan, authored by Union Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, Mr. Rahul Gandhi said he once asked his father why did he not quit politics because he did not want to join it in the first place.

"My father looked at me with surprise and said he can never leave politics because he believes in the people of India. Four years down the line as a member of Parliament, I also think that all the programmes initiated by him could not have been done by someone who did not believe in the people."

Mr. Aiyar said the country and its polity had almost forgotten `socialism', which was so close to Rajiv Gandhi's heart.

"The word has virtually been removed and we only talk in terms of `Kuber puja' [capitalism]. We go after a score of millionaires and think India has progressed but forget the teeming millions who do not earn even Rs. 20 per day. There is no harm in changing with the times or reviewing the policies but we should not deviate from our targets because in a democracy we are accountable to the people," he said.

"Rajiv Gandhi also said that if we ignore the poor - who need the government's help the most - they [will] give us a befitting reply after five years."

On nonalignment, Rajiv Gandhi believed that India should strengthen itself for the service of mankind and not in the quest for dominance as was done by the powerful nations, but ensuring that the sovereignty of the country was safeguarded.

Hoping that the Women's Reservation Bill would be passed in Parliament, Mr. Aiyar said that the Panchayati Raj Institutions had filled the gap between the elected representatives and citizens, which Rajiv Gandhi always thought was used by middlemen.