Didn't choose to be born in this family: Rahul Gandhi

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Monday said that he doesn't "invoke" his famous family name as he didn't choose to be born in the family.

"I don't actually keep invoking my family name, I have mentioned my family name once or twice and then people report that," Gandhi said in his television interview to Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on being asked why he touts his family background and for further entrenching the dynasty system.

"The real issue is that I didn't choose to be born in this family, I didn't sign up and say that I like to be born in this family... It happened, so the choice in front of me is pretty simple... I can either turn around and say okay I will just walk away from this thing and leave it alone, or I can say I can try and improve something," he added.

Rahul Gandhi's great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi have all served as India's prime minister.

He said that "every single thing" he has done in his political career has been to bring in youngsters.

"I am absolutely against the concept of dynasty, anybody who knows me knows that and understands that."

But, in the same breath, he said that it cannot be wished away as it is a closed system.
"...you have to open the system. Dynasty or children of politicians becoming powerful happens in the BJP, it happens in the DMK, it happens in the SP, it happens in the Congress party, it happens everywhere."

He also said that the reason children of politicians keep getting repositioned is because the system is closed.

"You are not going to change that without opening the system, you are not going to open the system without having processes, the system is not going to open by waving a wand and saying Abracadabra, let us open the system. It is going to take time, it is going to take effort and it is going to take structure. That is the work that I do."