So you must be thinking, why have I come here, and why am I talking to you about politics and feelings?

Because in my 21 years of political life, one of the masters of the politics of feeling was Oommen Chandy ji. I literally saw him—and maybe a lot of people in Kerala will not understand this because they did not see him personally—kill himself for the people of Kerala.

And I remember during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, everybody had said, even the doctors had told me that Chandy ji could not walk in the Yatra. And when I went to tell him that he cannot walk the long Yatra, he refused to back down. He said he’s going to walk. Then I had to force him to walk only a limited amount. We literally had to forcibly take him into the car.

This does not happen because you speak well or because you think well. This only happens when you feel for the people you’re working with.

And for me, Oommen Chandy ji is not just an individual; he’s an expression of Kerala’s politics. In the politics here, there’s a tradition of bringing up these types of individuals. It’s my aspiration to develop more and more people like Mr. Oommen Chandy.

Let me tell you, I came in contact with Oommen Chandy ji early on in my career, and I must say, I learnt a lot from him.

Rahul Gandhi
Leader of Opposition