I watched Rahul Gandhi’s UC Berkeley speech live on television and have come to the conclusion that he has a long way to go to prove that he is a convincing speaker (“Rahul’s U.S. trip aims to win friends, influence people”, Sept. 15). Mr. Gandhi’s team consists of Shashi Tharoor, Sam Pitroda, Milind Deora, and Manish Tewari. Even with a strong backing, Mr. Gandhi’s body language seemed feverish, and he was sometimes unrealistic and unintelligible. What’s more, he strutted and stammered more than once at the question and answer session, exhibiting his inability to answer the questions extempore.
Ravi Mannethu,
Pullad, Kerala
Rahul Gandhi’s reference to dynastic politics in India is not misplaced in the political context, although the U.S. and Berkeley were perhaps not the platform and place for him to air these views. Dynasties are there everywhere in India, prominently in the film industry, for example. Mr. Gandhi may be from the Nehru family, his entry into politics may only be because of this reason, he may not have held any ministerial post in the United Progressive Alliance government and so might be a failed politician on the count of not having experience on the job. But it is unfair to call him an immature politician. The comment on dynasties may have been unwarranted given the podium, but he did speak the truth.
N. Visveswaran,
Chennai
Once a party sits in the Opposition, it has become an inevitable practice for it to make personal attacks on the head of government. In the past three years, it has become common for Mr. Gandhi to personally attack the Prime Minister. Instead of his image-building endeavours abroad, Mr. Gandhi should spend time at home on party-building exercises that counter the ruling party’s hollow claims of achievement in every nook and corner.
R. Sridharan,
Chennai
