Congress plays down Economist article on Rahul

Congress on Tuesday sought to down play an article appearing in The Economist that doubted Rahul Gandhi's credentials as a politician, saying there was a need for Indians to get liberated from the "spectre of mental colonialism".

Congress on Tuesday sought to down play an article appearing in The Economist that doubted Rahul Gandhi's credentials as a politician, saying there was a need for Indians to get liberated from the "spectre of mental colonialism".

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"I am always surprised that questions are asked about whatever is written in Washington Post, The Economist, Standard and Poor's and Moody's comments on India... We need to free ourselves from the spectre of mental colonialism," party spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.

He was replying to questions on the comments in the latest article of The Economist titled The Rahul Problem, which starts with question "what is the point of Rahul Gandhi" and says that the Congress's "prince in waiting has not shown any hunger for the job".

When asked about similar criticism in a book written by journalist Arti Ramchandran, Tewari said he has not read the book.

Asked if that is the case then why did the PMO reacted to an article in the Washington Post on the Prime Minister, Tewari said, "the objection was taken because some eminent people quoted in the article have completely refuted the quotes attributed to them."

The Congress spokesperson said there is a wealth of wisdom in Indian journalists and he would be happy to respond to question about reports written by them instead of responding to anything being published in foreign journals.