Hypocrisy of Indian Left reason behind rise of Hindutva, says Ramachandra Guha

Historian Ramachandra Guha observed that hypocrisy of Indian Left as one of the reasons behind the rise of Hindutva in India.

"The hypocrisy of the Indian Left is one of the reasons why Hindutva is so prominent today. The left is only in power in Kerala, but it has been in power in West Bengal, Tripura in other states. The Left has been influential in universities, intellectuals, artists and filmmakers. The left is ideologically hypocritic because of the fact that they loved other nations more than India," Guha said was speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival here on Friday.

Adding that second reason is the corruption of the Congress party, he said: "Why did you (Malayalis) elect Rahul Gandhi to Parliament. I have nothing against Rahul Gandhi personally. He is a decent fellow, very well-mannered. But young India does not want a fifth-generation dynast."

"If you make the mistake of re-electing Rahul Gandhi in 2024 too, you are merely handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi," Guha said adding that Modi's great advantage is that he is not Rahul Gandhi.

"Modi is self-made. He has run a state for 15 years, he has administrative experience, he is incredibly hard-working and he never takes holidays in Europe. Believe me, I am saying all this in all seriousness," he said.

The historian further said, "When I was young, Congress was not a family firm. Nehru had no desire to make Indira Gandhi his successor. The conversion of the great party of the freedom struggle into a pathetic family firm is very crucial to understand the rise of Hindutva today.