today

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has credited the Nehru-Gandhi family with India's independence as well as Bangladesh's creation, fuelling an angry response from the Opposition here and a mild reaction in Islamabad.

“He only thinks of his family and thinks history has been written by the Gandhis. In fact, he includes Mahatma Gandhi too in this,” BJP party spokesman Prakash Javadekar maintained. “If they (Congress) takes credit for Pakistan's division, then they should also take the blame for the partition of India. They don't see the country beyond the family and are so involved in the game that all their (other party) bearers become unimportant. “Does that mean (former prime ministers) Lal Bahadur Shastri and (P V) Narasimha Rao were nobodies? Talking about a party is okay as it represents a hierarchy. Here, the talk is all about family,” Javadekar contended.

Now it is to be UP for Rahul Gandhi, apparently. "Once my family decides on something, it doesn’t go back. Whether it’s about India’s freedom, dividing Pakistan or taking India to the 21st century" — Rahul Gandhi

Opening his campaign for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today projected Rahul Gandhi as the state’s new leader, saying he is its future.

IMO: Well Rahul Gandhi is still young and young people tend to parrot their elders and make inane remarks. But some would say that we have had enough of that sort of talk already from the Gandhi family. OTOH UP could certainly do with improvement, by whoever. Possibly it is worthwhile if someone actually tries to 'improve' it, in a way acceptable to the locals there anyway. We can only hope for improvement, whatever the voters decide, or allegedly decide.