Rahul Gandhi's stand shows he's fit to be the future prime minister

In trashing an ordinance that would have allowed convicted members of Parliament to remain its members while their appeals were awaiting admission to a higher court, Rahul Gandhi went against his own party and government, but responded to the moral outrage that was being felt by the people of India. 
 

By doing so he showed that he has the political instincts and the moral courage that the country needs to see in a future prime minister.
 

This ordinance was repugnant in every sense of the term. It was not introduced while Parliament was in session, but by ordinance when it was in recess. 
 

What is more, although the Supreme Court has encroached upon the prerogatives of the executive on innumerable occasions in the past and not always wisely, the government chose to assert the supremacy of Parliament only when it became necessary to protect the privileges of convicted criminals. 

 

In the past weeks its spokesmen have put forward a host of seemingly impeccable legal reasons to justify the bill but the public saw it only as fresh confirmation that our democracy has been criminalised beyond redemption.
 

Analysts are trying to divine the political calculations that lie behind his ‘revolt’. But I dont think there are any. What Rahul did today, is reminiscent of what his grandmother Indira Gandhi did when she broke the old Congress in 1969. On economic issue she went against her party organisation and appealed directly to the people with the catchy slogan ‘Quit Poverty’. It was an appeal to the people over the heads of her party leaders, and they responded wholeheartedly. With hindsight we can see now that the policies she introduced in the early seventies harmed the country. 
 

Rahul is also appealing to the people over the heads of his party but on an issue where he is, without a shadow of doubt, in the right. In doing so he is not merely saving his party but also preventing the further de-legitimisation of Indian democracy.