The Cabinet Berth Controversy

Enough has been said and written about this, so I would like to set the record straight...

I am not keen on a cabinet berth at this time. I clearly see my job as building the Congress at the grass root level. You can call it Youth Congress, Democratization of Congress, Congress Party 2.0 or whatever, but it is about regaining the lost glory of the Congress - or dare I say taking our glory to never-before-seen heights. You can call me naive, ignorant/innocent or even a dreamer - but I'm not the only one. (Sorry about that Mr. Lenon).

The youth is with me on this. The youth have all sorts of wonderful ideas, and many of them really do-able. The young minds of India know what is needed to make India the glorious nation it is destined to be, they just need to find a platform to make their dreams about India a reality. If a free market capitalist were to look at this situation, he (or she) would think of a political party as a service provider, the interest that an engaged citizenry has in joining it as market share and the election results as customer feedback. I am interested in making the Indian National Congress a service provider to the nation with the highest market share and the best customer feedback. For that I need to re-build the Congress in all the states across India.

If I can indeed do that, it would be a contribution to India far greater than what I could make right now as a Cabinet Minister. Moreover, opening the flood gates of fresh leadership talent will remove the dynastic monopoly our opposition so eagerly alleges at every opportunity.

Now I would also like to share my thoughts on how the media has been handling this issue...

Please don't keep asking Dr. Singh about my credentials to be a Cabinet Minister - or worse, of being Prime Minister. If you know me even a little bit, you should know it embarrasses me. If you know Dr. Singh even a little bit, you should know it is embarrassing for him too. He has always been kind with his words for me, but let's leave the brilliant Dr. Singh to build his Cabinet as he sees fit.

I also feel there is no point in continuing to ask the Congress Party's spokesperson this question. And I also think they could have done a better job in answering this question. There is no point in saying, "Well, Dr. Singh has publicly asked him to join the Cabinet. It is up to him to decide." Such statements reflect very poorly on the organizational structure and our decision making process. The world can think whatever they wish to, we as Congress Party Workers should be clear on our protocols and agenda. The correct answer to the question is as follows...

"We've looked at the situation, passed on our views to the senior leadership and it has been collectively decided that at this time it is in our collective best interest to have Rahul work to strengthen the party. If he does his job right, we will have no dearth of people that are equally (or better) capable to lead our great country."