On the 139th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi (no relative) lends a hand to promote the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme at Pinjra village in Rajasthan on Thursday.
But the devi is in the details. The girl in front carries an overflowing bandli of stones on her head; a chore she undertakes several times a day, every day; Mr G shoulders a little mud in a plastic basin. The girl walks bare foot on hard earth; Mr G prince wears sneakers (not Lotto). The girl, barely in her twenties, is already bent double, Mr G is ramrod straight. Etcetera.
All the wailing about the current breed of politicians boils down to this: The real Mr G was willing to get his hands dirty to be the change he wanted to see. He didn’t walk the first few yards towards Dandi and then ask his followers to take the march to its logical end. The pretenders announce “pack up” once the pop of the flashbulbs has died down.
Photograph: courtesy Press Trust of India via The Hindu
churumuri 
As per Singapore media, Last week this same prince turned up for an exclusive Singapore Formula 1 party where British DJ Carl Cox was playing.
I think he’s just taking a break after partying hard.. Lol
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@kkr well said.
By the way why is he carrying an empty plastic bucket?
He would have made/given a good impression to the janasamanyaru, if he had carried a basket full of stones just like the woman in front of him is carrying !!.
May be his secretary did not brief him how to pose effectively for a camera!!
he should have asked somebody at chrumuri.
We are here to serve our great (future) leaders!! :)
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Quirk of fate that Indira married a man with a ‘Ghandhi’ surname. Misused ever since by the family.
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Even if this act of Rahul is a token gesture it should be encouraged. If not in reality, atleast in the make believe world of media propoganda, Rahul is being projected as pro-poor.
We need the politicians to at least acknowledge the values of being the ‘Servants of the public’. Let the people hold them responsible if they don’t deliver.
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But what can the Prince do? He has so much to live up to. It is his ancestry and his name, he has to do justice to both. The fling to Singapore was to do justice to his aristocratic roots, while the above photo op wasto remind Indians that his surname is Gandhi.
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Instead of doing all these gimmicks he(in general all politicians) should spend their time making policies which will help these people. Its disgusting to see such pictures. One should do ones assigned work and not waste their and others time
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I think this young politician is a lot better than most of the rest in his party and in other parties. One can be cynical to no end. The devil in the details is not all that important. I think his heart is in the right place, does not matter if he leaves after the photo session. Let him party in Singapore, so what? When he came to Karnataka he made it a point to study Dharamasthala rural development programme sites….I like him at least as of now. He certainly seems to be more serious than our ‘slept in a hut and left after bluff’ former chief minister….
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Our politicians are made us for playing dramas which they believe people will believe them. Their antics is worst than circus clowns. Thos clowns entertains us by hiding their misery. But the so called clowns heaps bandli full miseries on us. Same is applicable to our bureaucrats who are second to none in such antics. Manyyears ago an IAS officer by holding a brand new broom on a busy road in Mysore got his photos published in news papers. Thank god then there were no multiple TV channels. Otheriwise it would have been a fodder for them for a full day to bore the viewrs
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Not in Mahatma Gandhi’s footsteps….following a worker…follow the leader… and you have nothing to lose … excepting limelight!
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The article is sarcastic and is in bad taste.
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@kkr
well said.
By the way why is he carrying an empty plastic bucket?
He would have made/given a good impression to the janasamanyaru, if he had carried a basket full of stones just like the woman in front of him is carrying !!.
May be his secretary did not brief him how to pose effectively for a camera!!
he should have asked somebody at chrumuri.
We are here to serve our great (future) leaders!! :)
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Well he atleast made an attemtp wether its Photo Op publicity styunt wat ever…. he did make an effort unlike the others. We need a PMA here…and i am sure people will get back to me lol :-)))
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This is nothing but a publicity stunt! The Congress leadership still things that the people are still in the Indira era. People are not fools and they can;t be fooled always.
This also show the Congress desperately trying to bring a new image to its prince before the Lok Sabha elections.
Congress don’t has the mass leaders and it can’t sustain in politics without the Nehru family. But unfortunately Congress will not survive if don’t come out of the family controled rule.
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mannu horalikke layak ee pseudo gandhi?
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clearly he is still chasing the girls.
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Hes definitely not putting his heart into it(improving indias rural people), if he does it without any selfish motives maybe he can do some difference but will the cronies around him old and young allow him? and can he get physically and morally out of his ivory tower.
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Generation after generation, it is getting easier to become a PM of India. Pandit Nehru had to brave hardships including being State Guest of the British. Indira Gandhi had to be merely his host for becoming PM. Rajiv Gandhi had to fall at the feet of Bhindrenwale and call him a saint, and also condone mass murder of Sikhs to become PM. But, Rahul Gandhi has to merely lose two major States (UP and Gujarat) for congress, discover India for the first time and carry some mud!
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This is a cynical post!!
So are some of the comments….
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Very Good Post!!!
Good observation!!
Rahul must have learnt how to fool naive poor people. He is not doing any great things by visiting the poor areas of the nation. If he is trying just to be charismatic leader just like his father. What has he proved until now anyway that will bring good change in the nation?
We need much better leaders… I will not vote for him until he proves some real better change.
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Rahul Gandhi has become a mason…. That was the only occupation left.
They have literally named every monument in India after their family. Now they can have Rahul Gandhi Kuccha construction company.
It is a stunt..
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no, not cynical, we are finally waking up to dissect a stunt. those adys are far gone my friends when Indira gandhi would wear a tribal head gear and dance (pose) with the tribals to show she belonged. it was promptly copied by many and it lost its charm. when siddaramaiah did a dollu kunita to prove that he indeed belongs to his sect, it was different because he had REALLY do it. Now why should Rahul Gandhi do this stunt as everyone knows that he need not /does not even lift a spoon at home. Reminds of an eye opener story taht photographer Raghu Rai narrated long back .
He was shooting Indira Gandhi for a series -A day in the life of Indira. When she went near the photo of her father Nehru on a shelf she noticed that there was dust on the photo and she asked someone to wipe it. Raghu Rai suggested it would be nice if she wiped it herself so that he could click. she agreed and asked an aid to get a duster cloth. Raghu Rai again suggested that if she wiped the photo with her pallu it would add a sentimental touch to the photo.
Indira Gandhi looked into his eyes and promptly said ” Mr Rai, I am deeply attached to my father – not to dust”.
A lesson there for you Mr Rahul Gandhi?
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tHE Congress is pro-poor and pro-poverty. it wants to maintain the number of poor people constant and increase th level of poverty. wht a cheap stunt
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Arre Rahul bhaiyya ko satao mat. Politicians are like diapers — almost always full of crap –, if not it’s just a matter of time. He is just being a politician.
There’s a global endemic making rounds that compels politicians to shed their inhibitions , shame and what’s scant left of so called morals, pose for a photo and stake a claim of their understanding on issues/suffering they have no friggin clue about.
McCain’s ‘country first’, suspend campaign and rush to whitehouse for the bailout bill photo-op. Sarah 6-pack Palin’s Kissinger-Karzai UN photo-op. Now Rahul bhaiyya. These morons cannot help it ! it’s not thier fault. Stop expecting better, and why expect better he is no Gandhi ? err he is ! I meant the Mahatma kind not the ‘hume yeh banana hai’ kind…
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Ram Guha wrote a memorable piece in the Telegraph, Calcutta, some 2-3 months back quoting some columnist of the then Bombay how Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to the city was pre-rehershed in mid 1980s.
I urge Churumuri to post that article. Its a master piece. And will prove nothing has changed.
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Little make up was needed, they have forgotten. Soiled pyjama and jubba would have given a better picture. And at a time when the Great Mahatma is remembered…
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Let us give to this man. May be he genuinely wanted to experience it all to the extent he could. The report in some newspaper said the media actually gatecrashed and was not invited.
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So Subbulakshmi,
Indira Gandhi refused to be artificially sentimental beyond a point. Right?
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“Millions around the world, especially in rural Africa, live kilometers from a reliable source of clean water, leaving them vulnerable to cholera, dysentery, and other water-borne diseases. Water in adequate quantities is too heavy to carry. The Q Drum is a durable container designed to roll easily, and can transport seventy-five liters of clean and potable water.”
http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/Design/q-drum
Instead of encouraging such simple and cost effective inventions which will make people’s life easier, our ‘leaders’ go around glorifying poverty and hunger, and making it seem as though being poor and malnourished is the best thing in life.
On the other hand maybe they are right. Since there are just too many poor people in India, maybe the best way is to just cynically loot others and make the best lives for ourselves.
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What Rahul is doing is what all other politicians have been doing. These are symbolic acts to lure the masses.
What was Mohandas Gandhi doing while he was wearing those funny clothes, he even wore it in the london winter while attending the round table conference. What was Gandhi doing when he used to travel in those third class compartments in Train. Sarojini Naidu had even remarked that it takes a lot of money to upkeep the image of the poor Mahatma. Rahul is doing the same kind of thing. Blame Mohandas Gandhi folks. He is the father and originator of hypocracy in Indian Politics. Rahul is following in the footsteps of his congress partyman the erstwhile mahatma.
Why does railway minister Lalloo Yadav have a huge cowshed – a goshala even when he was a chief minister. Does not the chief minister have better things to do than milking cows. Why does Advani go on a Rath Yatra as if he is some hero from the times of the Ramayana or some obscure puranic lore. Who uses Rathas nowadays.
Rahul is following in the footsteps of his erstwhile seniors in Indian Politics.
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Media shows such acts of the politicians as if there is no other serious issues in society. Media should have some responsibility.
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Another media gimmick. Could see this pic on 2-3rd page of all news papers. Its another political vote bank gimmick by congress which is bought (or sold) by the news papers….. I am sure for some amount..!!
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A big show off and a man who is not qualified to be a worth politician
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