Alok Mehta interview Rajiv Gandhi in 1985.
Nirmala Sitharaman resurrected Alok Mehta’s 1985 interview where Rajiv Gandhi acknowledged the politicisation of reservation and asked for a rethink.
Tuesday was a day of fiery parliamentary exchange when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman targeted Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi after he raised the issue of the caste of the bureaucrats present in the halwa ceremony. While the government has been reminding the Congress of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s anti-reservation stand from the beginning, Sitharaman delivered a new googly — a 1985 interview of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who had expressed his strong views against reservation.
Sitharaman resurrected a 1985 interview with senior journalist Alok Mehta where the then PM and the father of today’s caste census champion — Rajiv Gandhi – acknowledged the politicisation of reservation and asked for a rethink. He also expressed a strong opposition to further enlarging the reservation pie.
Mehta finds it utterly amusing to live in a time when Rajiv Gandhi’s son vociferously demanded a caste census inside Parliament. Having tracked Rajiv Gandhi for a long time, Mehta can’t help but make comparisons between the two. “Rajiv Gandhi was a modern man,” he said. But he added that he felt “sorry” for the family, having tracked it for so long. When asked why, he elaborated in great detail in an interview with CNN-News18.
Here are the edited excerpts from the interview with Alok Mehta:
Q: You had interviewed Rajiv Gandhi on reservation. Now you have witnessed Rahul Gandhi’s vision of caste census. How do the two views hold together?
Alok Mehta: I have followed both Indira and Rajiv Gandhi. I tracked Rajiv Gandhi even before he became the Prime Minister. I must say, he was a very modern man. Yesterday, I heard Rahul Gandhi (in Parliament) and have heard him before in Raebareli. I felt bad. He feels this (caste politics) will work. His is a totally different brand of politics, for attaining power. Rajiv was a totally different person.
Rahul is either confused or wants to become a communist. He must not forget that Vidya Charan Shukla was killed by Maoists. I know this family and that is why I feel sorry for the family as well as the society (for the harm it may cause).
Q: Where does this brand of politics take India?
Alok Mehta: I feel sympathy for him. This may help him politically in the short run but will cause damage to India. Look, I am also averse to the religion-based fanaticism that you witness in our country. Similarly, I am against blatant caste politics like this. If at all caste politics is to prevail, Akhilesh Yadav is a far more competent leader, in my view, than Rahul Gandhi or Tejasvi Yadav.
Q: The FM has talked about your interview…
Alok Mehta: I did not know. But people should read that interview. People should be shown (Rajiv’s) views and talk about it.
राहुल गांधी बार बार जाति के अधिकारी की बात कर रहे हैं , लेकिन राजीव गांधी कितने विरोधी थे इसका एक प्रमाण मुझे 1985 में दिए गए इंटरव्यू से पता चल सकता है । यदि सबको अच्छी शिक्षा मिले तो हर जाति धर्म के लोग आगे बढ़ेंगे । @ombirlakota @Jagdeepdhankha pic.twitter.com/JBAM8LfUtx— Alok Mehta (@alokmehtaeditor) July 29, 2024
Q: You have mentioned repeatedly about Rahul Gandhi’s brand of politics. What is that?
Alok Mehta: I see a cocktail of caste politics with shades of communism in his brand of politics. When Narasimha Rao went to China, I travelled with him. Today even China is different. But he is pursuing communism and a brand of politics that evolves into labour agitation. On the other hand, he is doing politics with the most corrupt of Indian politics like Lalu Prasad Yadav. He is going against his own previously held beliefs. He often talks about RSS. Does he know how senior Congress leaders facilitated RSS entry in Madhya Pradesh? He listens to Jairam Ramesh who can’t fight and win an election. The people of this country want a modern India.
Q: As someone who has tracked both the Gandhis, any piece of advice for Rahul Gandhi?
Alok Mehta: Who am I to advise? But I would say, he should follow in his father’s footsteps.
Rajiv also had differences with Kamla Prati Tripathi. But he also listened to him. Rahul Gandhi never used to listen to Motilal Vohra or Ahmed Patel. In politics, you have to listen. He is ill-advised, I am afraid.
