Harsh

[Harsh @Freenore]

@Schandillia Alright then. Let's just focus on every day news and see if we get any reports of discrimination against the Dalits.

Oh wait... only five days ago, we had the news of a poor woman being made to deliver her child on road. And believe me, this is endemic.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@supersayan68200 Because their priority isn't leadership: it is self-enrichment and self-interest. Always has been.

If people actually put country above party and self then most of the politicians' career would end. And they'll actually have to take human development seriously.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@audeamuser You should read Ashoka Mody's India is Broken to see that Congress has had its success and failures. Economically, the early years were disastrous.

Or Kapil Komireddi's book to see the sheer vulgar abuse of power when they held power.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@audeamuser So then why was the country in such dismal state by 2014 (which Modi made worse)?

Anyway, it is a political party, and hence can be criticised or praised. There's nothing wrong with people having views, and Guha has written history books with footnotes to justify his views.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@shrutammegopaya Bullshit. Historically speaking, Hinduism has had some really remarkable moments in its history.

The reason why it isn't a cultural capital is because the people who love appropriating Hinduism for their politics have not created great art to showcase it.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@MikeyCorleone7 I'm not sure about this. I think one has to live in denial to not see that Congress needs to restructure itself. It is organisationally so bad, very little grassroots presence, or presence in some of the states at all.

Tharoor at least offered a solution to this.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@Dubeyjikaladka @neha_aisa I don't think they're much concerned about that, for better or for worse. They want to combine forces as much as possible for now.

Though yes, NSUI not being there doesn't bode well for this coalition, if it is that.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@naaycoqui Presidency is nowhere near as powerful as made out to be. That's why Presidents either get frustreated or they launch power-grab.

The real deal is leading the House and Senate, that's how you can control every bill that goes through, and even cripple a Presidency.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@iam_balaji Arguably the only odd person out is Vajpayee - a life long parliamentarian who never held any CM post and was EAM for a very brief period.

But he was a truly remarkable orator, whatever one makes of his politics. Rahul, on the other hand, has never been inspiring or even fluent.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@iam_balaji The reason Rahul Gandhi is a non-starter for many is that he has no track record to point towards.

Indians elect PM on experience and certainty (activism, cabinet minister or CM). Rahul has none of that - he never tried to be CM of UP or Delhi and learn things from ground-up.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@Raja_Sw Unfortunately we only deal in bhakti. Either a Modi bhakt or now a Rahul bhakt.

Principled, measured evaluation of a politician is not an idea that comes naturally to us.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@themaskbeneath He wouldn't be doing this if he was the President though. If anything, his plans for de-centralisation and bringing new blood in and renewing grassroots activism would've benefited the Congress.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@KellyofArrakis This is not democracy, this is giving monarchial vibes.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@gillqaeda I'm convinced we Indians want to worship our politicians. You don't even need propaganda for it.

Rahul is a fifth gen dynast who is in politics because he believes PM is his birthright. And as you said, his family governed India for decades, yet somehow India is still awful.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@ShashiTharoor As usual, Tharoor shows his fatalism, "it has been so, therefore it will be so".

You and the rest of Congress operated institutionally for 12 years. Where did that get you?

Now that the elections are manipulated, you still don't want to take more bolder action?

[Harsh @Freenore]

@subhajit_n We must've seen things differently, because the media heavily favoured Kharge, as did all of the dynasty's old guards (see their nomination papers and who recommended them).

Tharoor was expected to lose by everyone who saw that election for what it was.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@MikeyCorleone7 They should've implemented his decentralisation plan, him as Party President or not. They were, and still are, exactly the reforms Congress needs.

You cannot have one person fight BJP in a country of 1.4 bil. Congress needs a stronger grassroots presence and many, many leaders.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@GhoshSamyak Keeping aside Tavleen, Guha had good reason for his criticism. Have you forgotten how ineffective Rahul was until now? Do you want blind worship?

From 2004 to until recently, he was an absent parliamentarian who didn't act seriously about politics.

[Harsh @Freenore]

@certifiedchaosv lmao calm down. Nehru was a darling of the masses from the start, having led peasant and labour movements; it has now been 22 years since Rahul entered politics.

Besides, "capitalists resisted his democratic outlook." - tell me you don't know history without outright saying so.