Congress not worried about SDPI in coast: U T Khader
Mangaluru (PTI): The Congress is not much worried about the active presence of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in the communally polarised Dakshina Kannada region ahead of the May 10 assembly elections in Karnataka, former minister and Mangaluru MLA U T Khader said.
In an interview to PTI, he said, "I don't see SDPI as a threat to our vote bank. People are not going to support their communal agenda." Khader said people in the region are more concerned about issues like poverty, unemployment and protection of their basic rights. Only the Congress addresses these issues in the election campaign.
"Congress is there for everyone and strives to uphold the constitutional rights of citizens and fights to protect them. Voters will ultimately realise that."
"When we try to protect the Constitution, the rights of minorities will also be protected. The electorate will vote for a secular government in the state," he said.
Asked whether SDPI, the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), will eat into the Congress vote bank, he said they have only limited influence in Dakshina Kannada.
"The BJP is on its deathbed in the state. It is now the duty of SDPI to save them," he said. "We are opposing the communal policies of both the parties."
The Congress leader further said the SDPI's two-three percent votes in the region cannot make an impact in the elections. "The Congress had won when they contested against us and we know the people are with us."
Congress is focusing on the failures of the BJP government which is steeped in corruption, he said expressing hope that the party will considerably improve performance in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
In the last elections, Khader was the only Congress candidate to win from the region. BJP had won 12 out of the 13 seats in the two districts.
He said the Congress is working unitedly for victory. On former MLA Mohiuddin Bava deserting the party and contesting on a Janata Dal (S) ticket from Mangaluru North, he said the decision will only damage his political career.
"Political leaders need to learn patience. The party cannot always favour a leader and they have to take it in their stride."
Khader said the description of the coastal region as the laboratory of Hindutva politics is not always correct. People have chosen different parties in successive elections.
He recalled that in 2008, out of the eight seats in Dakshina Kannada, the BJP and Congress won in four seats each. In 2013, Congress won seven seats and BJP won only in Sullia. In 2018, Congress lost due to certain undercurrents.
"A strong anti-incumbency wave is now visible in the state due to their divisive politics and people have learnt that Congress should come to power to maintain peace and harmony," he said.
On the CM Basavaraj Bommai-headed government taking away four percent quota for Muslims and placing them in the economically weaker sections category, Khader said it is not right to withdraw the existing quota of a community.
The decision reflects the BJP's continuing attempts to polarise the society and gain political advantage, he said.
Khader is contesting for the fifth consecutive time from the Mangaluru (erstwhile Ullal) constituency and had won all the four elections he faced.
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Privatisation doesn't guarantee quality edu, govts need to spend more: Rahul to IIT Madras students
New Delhi, Jan 4: Quality education cannot be achieved through privatisation and financial incentives, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Saturday, underlining the importance of governments spending more on education and strengthening public institutions.
In a conversation with IIT Madras students held sometime back, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha talked on a host of issues including on the changes he would want to initiate to improve the education system.
"I believe it is one of the foremost responsibilities of any government to guarantee quality education to its people. This cannot be achieved through privatisation and financial incentives.
"We need to spend a lot more money on education and strengthening government institutions," he said in a post on X, while sharing an edited video of his conversation with the students.
Asked how the Congress and the BJP are different in terms of how they operate, he said the Congress and UPA generally believe that the resources should be distributed more fairly and growth should be wider and inclusive.
The BJP, he said, is more aggressive on growth. "They believe in what in economic terms is 'triple-down'. On the social front, we feel that the more harmonious society is, the less people are fighting, the better it is for the country.
"On the international relations front, there are probably some differences with regards to the way we relate to other countries but it will be similar," he said.
On how to promote higher education, he said, a country needs to guarantee quality education to its people.
"I don't think that the best way to guarantee quality education to our people is to privatise everything. Frankly, when you bring some sort of financial incentive into the game, you don't actually give quality education.
"I have said this many a times that the best institutions in our country are government institutions, yours being one of them. I argue for much more money being spent in education by governments," he told the IIT Madras students.
Gandhi said he has "serious problems" in the way the country's education system is set up. "I don't think our education system allows the imagination of our children to thrive".
"You might not agree with me. I think it is a very restrictive, top down system... It is very narrow," he said.
Gandhi said that during his Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, he talked to thousands of children and asked them what they wanted to become.
They said they wanted to become a lawyer, doctor, engineer or an army soldier, he told the students.
"It can't be that there are only five things to do in this country. But that's what our system is pushing," he said, noting that the country's education system measures success only if one becomes an engineer or a doctor, or join the IAS/IPS or get into the forces, "which is just one percent or two percent of our population and 90 percent of our population is never going to do this".
He said the system should allow kids to do what they want and allow them to experience and do multiple things.
"Our education system disregards many things, it undervalues many professions and overvalues these four or five professions. So those are the types of things that I would like to change," he said.
On the international front, he said, the single most important thing going forward is how India balances China and America.
"In a situation, where the two superpowers are going head to head, we have a balancing equation, a balancing ability....So India is in a space where it can get quite a lot more than its power would give it. So if India intelligently navigates through this thing, without getting stuck or without making a major mistake, then we might benefit from it," Gandhi said.
Noting that the country's education system is a very hierarchical structure, he said its traditional system focusses on introspection, looking inside, and self observation.
Gandhi favoured pushing children for innovation, saying it can only come if they actually start production and their skill is respected and investment is made in it.
"One of the things that I want to push is moving more into the physical production space. To me, real innovation comes from that space. Put as much money you want in R&D, if you are not actually producing the thing, it will just be a budget," Gandhi said.
I believe it is one of the foremost responsibilities of any government to guarantee quality education to its people. This cannot be achieved through privatisation and financial incentives.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 4, 2025
We need to spend a lot more money on education and strengthening government institutions. pic.twitter.com/tBkZxj6NmN
