Amartya: Rahul has matured, real test will be as oppn leader
Times of India | 17 July 2024
BOLPUR: Describing Congress MP Rahul Gandhi as a man who had "significantly gained maturity" over the years, Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen felt the neta's true test would be how he led the opposition in Parliament.
The nonagenarian also opined that Rahul's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' had not only shaped him as a national figure but also enriched the country's political landscape.
Speaking at his ancestral residence in Bolpur, Sen said: "I think he is a much more mature person (now). I knew him as a young man during his days at Trinity College (in Cambridge)... the college where I studied and later became its Master. He visited me at that time and he came across as someone who was unclear about what he wanted to do. Politics didn't seem to appeal to him then."
The Bharat Ratna awardee said the Congress neta had evolved over the years. "Then he forayed into politics and I think initially he had some difficulty finding his feet. But his recent performance has been quite extraordinarily good and I am very admiring of that. Of course, you can't be fighting elections based on your qualities alone, it also depends on what the country is like," Sen said.
Asked whether he could see Rahul as the next PM, an amused Sen said: "I am not going to answer this thing (laughs). How people become prime ministers is very difficult to catch." He added: "If somebody asked me when I was a student in Delhi, who among my fellow students was least likely to become a prime minister, I would have named Manmohan Singh since he did not seem to take any interest in politics. But then he went on to become a PM and, I think, an excellent one at that. So, it's difficult to predict these things."
Referring to Rahul's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' initiative, the academic extolled the Congress neta's "improved ability of articulation" in politics. "I think the yatra was good both for India and for him. And I think he has shown remarkable improvement in this ability to articulate, especially his thoughts on politics, much more clearly than he could in the past," Sen said.
"When he came to Trinity, he was possibly trying to be a development expert and we talked about what he should read and so on. He was very eloquent there, but in politics, not really. But now he is very articulate in matters of politics," he added.
According to Sen, the most significant change in Rahul's leadership quality came from his newfound rootedness in the complexities of Indian polity. This, he said, would be a boon both for the party he led and for the country in Parliament where he was leader of opposition.
"The most important issue is how he leads the opposition in a country which has seen a great increase in inequality and sectarianism, particularly with respect to the majority community exercising overarching dominance over minorities like Muslims, Christians and others. That's his primary role, and I think he's handling it well,