Saddam, Gaddafi too had polls, used to win them, says Rahul

NEW DELHI: In his first public comment on party dissidents, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said a group of 20 leaders “who have different views on Congress” would not survive in any other party like BJP, adding that Congress allowed space for leaders to debate.


In an interaction with Brown University steered by political scientist Ashutosh Varshney, Rahul, arguing that Congress is democratic by nature, referred to the G-23 and asked, “Would they exist in BJP or BSP or TMC? No, they cannot exist in any other party. In Congress, we say we don’t agree with you but the conversation has to continue.”
The remark appeared to suggest that there was anger against the G-23 but there was not complete divorce with them. It is significant in view of the fact that the key dissident leaders have been left out of the list of “star campaigners” for assembly polls, in an apparent cold shoulder for their statements.
Asked about the reports of international institutions who recently downgraded India as a democracy, Rahul said said the institutions are under assault and there is financial domination and control of communication in favour of the ruling party.
In that context, he added, “Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi used to have elections. They used to win them. It wasn’t like they weren’t voting but there was no institutional framework to protect that vote.”
Asked if the trend will, going by history, lead to an attack on electoral democracy, Rahul said there was no need to attack the “vote” when the ruling party influenced the institutions which provide the framework to ensure a fair democracy like judiciary and Parliament. He said if a party controls WhatsApp and Facebook, it need not attack the polls.

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