From beehive to Jupiter: Here are Rahul's 'quotable quotes'

While there is no doubt that BJP’s PM candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is arguably the most searched Indian politician on the web, almost every time his bete noire Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi makes a public speech, social media is abuzz. Here are some quotes that got the Gandhi scion trending on social media. [caption id=“attachment_1161965” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] On terrorism Rahul Gandhi had at a press conference in Bhubaneswar, a day after the 2011 serial bombings in Mumbai, said that 99% of terror attacks have been stopped, but we must aim at stopping 100%.  “It is very difficult to stop every single terror attack. We will stop 99% terror attacks but 1 % of attacks might get through.” The beehive quote Addressing  the annual CII Annual General Meeting, Gandhi said millions of Indians were brimming with energy, adding that the country was now sitting on an unprecedented tide of transformation. He also took a dig at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s much touted Gujarat model of development.  “People call us an elephant.. We are not an elephant.. we are a beehive.. it’s funny but think about it. Which is more powerful? an elephant or a beehive?” “We go into this model where you have the one guy who will come and fix everything. He is going to come on a horse, that’s the model, that’s the Indian model. He is going to come on the horse, the Sun is in the background. There are a billion people waiting. He is coming and everything is going to be fine. No. It’s not going to work like that.”  “People talk about individuals, large number of problems can be sorted out by the lower level people. Give a billion people the power to solve a problem, it’ll be solved in a jiffy.” On poverty Speaking at a closed door function organised by the Dalit Resource Centre at the Gobind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute, Gandhi’s remarks on poverty erupted into a controversy forcing the institute to come out and issue a clarification what Gandhi had meant by his statement. “Poverty is just a state of mind. It does not mean scarcity of food, money or material things. If one possesses self-confidence then we can overcome poverty.” On the Congress Just after he was elevated to party Vice President at the Chintan Shivir in Jaipur, Rahul Gandhi targeted his own party for being ‘disorganised’. “It (Congress) is a funny party. It is the largest political organization in the world but perhaps does not have a single rule or regulation. We create new rules every two minutes and then dump them. Nobody knows the rules in the party” On the nation as a computer Addressing hundreds of NSUI and Youth Congress members, Gandhi had said that the Congress party captures the essence of the nation. “If India is a computer, Congress is its default programme.” On the BJP In a terse snub to BJP and its ‘India Shining’ campaign, Gandhi said it shone only for the leaders of the saffron brigade and not for the common people. “It is shining in their houses and air-conditioned cars but not in villages” On India and Saudi Arabia Gandhi said he had met some of the ambassadors of Europe who told him that while the twentieth century was of Saudi Arabia as it controlled oil, India will be the twenty-first century’s Saudi Arabia as it had tremendous human resource potential. “India is going to be the 21st century’s Saudi Arabia in terms of human resources” On Hindu radical groups According to an August 2009 cable sent by US Ambassador Timothy Roemer, Gandhi, in a casual conversation at a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, made this comparison between Islamist and Hindutva radical groups. “Although there was evidence of some support for Laskar-e-Taiba among certain elements in India’s indigenous Muslim community, the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community.” On the youth Ending his 3-day visit to West Bengal, Gandhi said the fundamental problem was that the youth was not in politics, adding that his party was trying to bridge the gap. “Politics is everywhere.. it is in your shirt.. in your pants.. everywhere.” On Punjab’s drug problem Speaking to college students in Punjab, Gandhi said Punjab had a huge drug problem which the state has been unable to tackle. He was addressing a rally organised by the NSUI. “Seven out of 10 youths in Punjab have a drug problem.” On knowledge Speaking at a Congress gathering, Gandhi had said that change could be possible only if those in power started respecting and empowering people for their knowledge and skills. “All the public systems – administration, justice, education and political are designed to keep people with knowledge out. Such a system promotes mediocrity.” On escape velocity Reaching out to the Dalit community, Gandhi said if the movement for escape velocity has to be taken forward it needs the participation of lakhs of Dalit leaders. Dalit community ’needs the escape velocity of Jupiter’ to achieve success. On the ordinance to rescue convicted politicians Considered one of his most controversial outbursts, Gandhi slammed his own government’s ordinance which had sought to protect convicted legislators forcing the cabinet to withdraw it. “My opinion of the ordinance is that it’s complete nonsense and that it should be torn up and thrown out.” He then apologised to Prime  Minister Manmohan Singh for his remarks but said his intention was right. “My mother (Congress President Sonia Gandhi) told me the words I used were wrong. In hindsight, may be the words I used were strong but the sentiment was not wrong. I am young….”