Rahul Gandhi mocks political opponents' love for limelight

Taking a dig at his political opponents in Delhi Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the leadership in the national capital would like to turn all loudspeakers and cameras in their direction but he prefers to turn the microphone to the people and listen to what they have to sayAddressing a gathering after presenting the first Priyadarshini Literary Award by KPCC to renowned writer T Padmanabhan he said politicians are quite a funny variety of people and loudspeakers are always facing themIt loudspeakers is not facing the crowd because we like to hear ourselves speak Every time I go there I have to turn the speakers the other way I think in todays India it is very important that the speaker is allowed to be turned the other way Because if you look at your leadership in Delhi all loudspeakers and cameras are pointed in this direction Gandhi said gesturingHe said that there is of course a big difference between writers like Padmanabhan and politicians like himself It is much easier for Padmanabhan to speak the truth than it is for politicians That is something which he has done in his whole life without exception he saidHe said thats why the KPCC is giving the writer the award because whatever comes to his heart he is ready to put on a piece of paperThe Wayanad MP also urged politicians to speak the truth like writers As politicians we should aspire to be like writers that whatever comes to our minds whatever truth comes to our minds we put it in front of the people he saidHowever Gandhi admitted that it was a much harder job as people tend not to like the truthStating that nations are built on truth and cannot be built on a lie the leader said that is one lesson our founding fathers taught us better than anybody else Truth takes timeit takes perseveranceit takes patiencebut eventually truth is much more powerful than lies Gandhi further saidHe said that in his political life he tried to be as much like a writer as possible and said whatever he felt like saying though it tended to cause problemsBut he owed it to the people of India who have given him so much love and respect and this prompted him to speak the truth even when it was uncomfortable he addedIn a time like today when freedom is under attack where hatred and violence are being spread in society people like T Padmanabhan lay the foundation for the fight against it Gandhi addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever