Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said dynasty politics is a facet of Indian politics, which makes the job a lot easier but does not guarantee success.
Well, it would be dishonest on my part to suggest I would have been where I am, had I not belonged to a political family. It accorded me a huge opportunity and I took advantage of these opportunities. Belonging to a political family will get your foot in the door a lot more easily than it does for others, but it doesn't guarantee you success, he said.
He made these remarks while speaking at a seminar 'The path forward in Kashmir' at the University of Berkeley in California in the US.
As per his speech, followed by a question-and-answer session, the details of which was provided here, Omar spoke on varied topics, including the current political situation in the country in the run up to the 2019 general elections.
The former chief minister said "the Indian voter is a lot more informed today, a lot more willing to experiment with their votes and not shy of affecting changes using their votes if they are not happy with the performance of the elected representatives."
I have won elections, have lost elections. I am currently sitting in the Opposition. If belonging to a political family was a guarantee of success, then I would have been here as the chief minister of J-K and not as an Opposition leader. So, belonging to a political family gives you an opportunity and what you do with that opportunity is for you to do and to that extent there are similarities in other spheres as well."
Yes, there is a dynasty politics facet to Indian politics, but it is not be-all and end-all of the politics. There are hundreds and thousands of politicians in India because they don't belong to political families you can't name them but they are there. Not every single Member of Parliament of Congress or other political parties belongs to a political dynasty, he said.
He said the politicians belonging to political families get more of a fair share of attention as well as expectations.
If Rahul Gandhi hadn't been a Gandhi and had been a regular Congress person, do you think he would have been subjected to the amount of ridicule and criticism that he gets. That is the reality that we have to live with. There is no point in sort of enjoying the advantages and saying 'look, I don't want to deal with the disadvantages'; they both come as a package deal, but there is more than enough space for good educated youngsters to join the political arena in India, he said.
He added social media has become a great leveller in terms of removing the barrier of the entry into politics.
When asked how he sees Rahul having evolved over the years, Omar, in a lighter vein, said the University of Berkeley, where the Congress president spoke last year, has to answer.
Well, you guys have a lot to answer for that. We sent one version of Rahul to Berkeley and you sent us a different version back, very new, very confident, very assertive, very outgoing and a very engaged Rahul Gandhi. So thank you Berkely!
"How have I seen him evolve; look, everybody changes. If you would have asked me to do this interaction with you 8-10 years ago, I wouldn't have been as engaging as I am now. I am very similar to Rahul, a lot more insular and not a very outgoing, gregarious sort of person. I am quite happy in my own company unlike a lot of other politicians," said Omar.
So, it takes a while to grow into these sort of interactions; that's I think (is) the biggest change that have seen in him. He is a lot more willing to engage. I think he has the advantage of not being part of the government. It's a lot easier to be a politician in the Opposition than it is to be in the government because in the Opposition all you have to do is to criticize. We don't have to deliver anything. In government, it's a lot more difficult. So I think that is obviously a crucial change, he said.
Omar said the 2019 polls will be a key indicator of how Rahul will evolve further. I think Berkeley has a lot to answer for and I think there will be a lot of people in the BJP who will not be happy with your university, he said.
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