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Journalism of Courage
Without family, friends or money, you cannot enter the system.8221; So said Rahul Gandhi who is as comfortably ensconced in 8220;the system8221; as it gets. It is a clear-eyed and creditable acknowledgement of the central truth about Congress party politics 8212; and to a great degree, other parties 8212; where patronage is everything. Every inch of the political slog, from assigning tickets to carving out ideological positions is decided by a small clutch of elders who got there through ferocious feats of sycophancy and patronage, and are determined to take the measure of their own power through how much they can control terms. The opacity of internal decision-making is responsible for many botched elections 8212; when information can8217;t freely travel up, the party is slower on its feet 8212; it cannot respond to new demands and groups.
Certainly, as Rahul Gandhi claims, if the Congress expects an infusion of transformative young talent to rock the party and supply fresh ideas, it needs to outline a clear and transparent route for entry and advancement. And it takes someone like Rahul Gandhi to state the obvious about restructuring opportunities 8212; any murmurings of discontent from other quarters come with grim consequences. Dissenters are swiftly slapped down by their own competitors, long accustomed to the demeaning jostle for attention from the party8217;s powerful.
