Mumbai:
Probably for the first time, a Congress leader has come forth and explicitly said that Rahul Gandhi should have joined the UPA government when they returned to power in 2009 as that would have helped him say he has the experience.
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Mumbai South MP and Minister of State for Telecommunications and IT and Shipping said, "Frankly, what I would have really liked is if Mr Gandhi got involved in government a long time ago, like me and like a lot of my other younger colleagues. I think if he got into government like five years ago, when we came back into power in 2009, a lot would be different for our government, a lot would be different for our party."
Crucially, Mr Deora said that Mr Gandhi would then have been able to say he has the experience. "A lot would be different for him also, perhaps, in terms of being able to say he has experience," Mr Deora explained.
The statement gains significance as one of the bigger criticisms against Mr Gandhi has been that he lacks the administrative experience to run for the Prime Minister's job especially when pitted against NDA's PM candidate Narendra Modi who has been elected as Chief Minister three consecutive times. In fact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too has said more than once that he would be happy if Mr Gandhi joined his government.
However, when asked if in hindsight he thought this was a "mistake", Mr Deora said, "There is no point in talking about what happened in hindsight. We can go endlessly about things we could have done, not done in hindsight. The bottom line is Mr. Gandhi chose not to be in government."
Mr Deora in all likelihood will be re-contesting from Mumbai South and will face former banker Meera Sanyal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Just a few weeks ago, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had issued orders to file an FIR against his father Murli Deora and others accusing them of collusion in the Reliance gas pricing issue. AAP could well raise this against him in their campaign.
"Well I will address that if they raise it or they try to personalise it. I won't get down to or stoop down to politics of making personal attacks. I have nothing to hide, I am going to be very open and say look I have provided clean, good governance both as a minister and a Member of Parliament to the people of South Mumbai. If you are talking about those who made allegations against a particular candidate or against a particular person that same party has called almost hundreds of candidates from different parties corrupt. So eventually there is also a bit of frivolity involved in that," Mr Deora retorted.
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Mumbai South MP and Minister of State for Telecommunications and IT and Shipping said, "Frankly, what I would have really liked is if Mr Gandhi got involved in government a long time ago, like me and like a lot of my other younger colleagues. I think if he got into government like five years ago, when we came back into power in 2009, a lot would be different for our government, a lot would be different for our party."
Crucially, Mr Deora said that Mr Gandhi would then have been able to say he has the experience. "A lot would be different for him also, perhaps, in terms of being able to say he has experience," Mr Deora explained.
The statement gains significance as one of the bigger criticisms against Mr Gandhi has been that he lacks the administrative experience to run for the Prime Minister's job especially when pitted against NDA's PM candidate Narendra Modi who has been elected as Chief Minister three consecutive times. In fact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too has said more than once that he would be happy if Mr Gandhi joined his government.
However, when asked if in hindsight he thought this was a "mistake", Mr Deora said, "There is no point in talking about what happened in hindsight. We can go endlessly about things we could have done, not done in hindsight. The bottom line is Mr. Gandhi chose not to be in government."
Mr Deora in all likelihood will be re-contesting from Mumbai South and will face former banker Meera Sanyal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Just a few weeks ago, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had issued orders to file an FIR against his father Murli Deora and others accusing them of collusion in the Reliance gas pricing issue. AAP could well raise this against him in their campaign.
"Well I will address that if they raise it or they try to personalise it. I won't get down to or stoop down to politics of making personal attacks. I have nothing to hide, I am going to be very open and say look I have provided clean, good governance both as a minister and a Member of Parliament to the people of South Mumbai. If you are talking about those who made allegations against a particular candidate or against a particular person that same party has called almost hundreds of candidates from different parties corrupt. So eventually there is also a bit of frivolity involved in that," Mr Deora retorted.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
