Ramchandra Guha, a Congress loyalist and also a popular fiction writer masquerading as a historian, seems to have got upset with the first family of the Congress party as he has now launched a rebellion against the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
On Friday, Ramchandra Guha, known for his ‘Gandhi-fiction’ surprised many Congress loyalists as he attacked Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, particularly Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking at Kozhikode in Kerala, Guha said that a “fifth-generation dynast” Rahul Gandhi has no chance in Indian politics against a “hard-working and self-made” Narendra Modi and expressed disappointment that Kerala did a disastrous thing by electing the Congress leader to Parliament.
A ‘fifth-generation dynast’ Rahul Gandhi has no chance in Indian politics against ‘hard-working and self-made’ Narendra Modi, and Kerala did disastrous thing by electing Congress leader to Parliament: historian Ramachandra Guha
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 17, 2020
Guha, who is known for his love for the Congress party, reportedly said that the reduction of the Congress from a “great party” during the freedom movement to a “pathetic family firm” now is one of the reasons for the ascendency of ‘Hindutva and jingoism’ in India.
“I have nothing against Rahul Gandhi personally. He is a decent fellow, very well-mannered. But young India does not want a fifth-generation dynast. If you Malayalis make the mistake of re-electing Rahul Gandhi in 2024 too, you are merely handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi,” said Guha on the second day of the ongoing Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) during his talk, “Patriotism Vs Jingoism”. Gandhi’s father, grandmother and great grandfather have all been former Prime Ministers of India.
Addressing the crowd, Guha added, “Kerala, you have done many wonderful things for India, but one of the disastrous things you did was to elect Rahul Gandhi to the Parliament.” Rahul Gandhi, who in 2019 general elections lost from his family bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, had won from the Wayanad seat in Kerala.
Praising Narendra Modi, Guha said “Narendra Modi’s great advantage is that he is not Rahul Gandhi. He is self-made. He has run a state for 15 years, he has administrative experience, he is incredibly hard-working and he never takes holidays in Europe.” To make sure people understand he is not being sarcastic, he even said, “Believe me, I am saying all this in all seriousness.”
“But, even if Rahul Gandhi was much more intelligent, more hard-working, never took a holiday in Europe, as a fifth-generation dynast, he still will be at a disadvantage against a self-made person”, he added.
Read: Ram Guha tries to give clean chit to Nehru on Kashmir plebiscite issue, ties himself in knots
Launching an attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Guha said that she reminded him of the “late Mughal dynasty” and how aloof they were of the state of their kingdom.
“India is becoming more democratic and less feudal, and the Gandhis just don’t realise this. You (Sonia) are in Delhi, your kingdom is shrinking more and more, but still, your chamchas (sycophants) are telling you that you are still the Badshah,” he said.
Guha also claimed that his teacher was noted sociologist Andre Beteille and described that the story of Nehru-Gandhi family as a classic “reversal of the famous Biblical injunction” where the sins of the father will be visited upon seven successive generations.
Attacking the left-wing forces, Guha said that the hypocrisy of the Indian Left was the fact that they loved other nations more than India. The rise of aggressive nationalism worldwide and “the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in neighbouring countries are some other reasons behind the evident leap of Hindutva in India in recent times, claimed Guha.
