I was Indian grandmother’s favourite, Priyanka Italian grandmother’s: Rahul

New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said he was favourite of his Indian grandmother Indira Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was of their Italian grandmother Paola Maino.

In an interview to the Italian daily “Corriere della Sera”, the 52-year-old leader also faced a frequently-asked question on his marriage and said he “would like to have children” though.

Asked why he did not get married until now, Gandhi said, “It’s strange…I don’t know. Too many things to do. But I would like to have children.”

Gandhi also shared his experiences from the 3,500-km Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

On a question about his beard that he has grown during the foot march, he said, “I had decided not to cut it for the whole march. Now I have to decide whether to keep it or not…”

Gandhi told the newspaper, “I was the Indian grandmother’s favourite and my sister Priyanka was the Italian grandmother’s favorite.”

He said she lived 98 years and “I was very attached to her, as I am to uncle Walter, to the cousins, to the whole family”.

Paola Maino passed away in Italy in August last year.

In his interview to the newspaper published on February 1, Gandhi alleged that fascism has entered the country as democratic structures were collapsing and Parliament was not functioning properly.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can be defeated in elections if the opposition presented an alternative vision to fascism.

To a question on whether power could be transmitted by dynastic means, Gandhi said, “We are a family. A dynasty, if you will. But we have an idea to defend. Not India, the idea on which India is founded.”

Describing this idea, he said it is the coexistence of peoples and the realization of oneself, through the non-violent search for the truth.

“Ours is a mission. An almost religious idea. It is worth more than all of us, more than our own lives; for this I am ready to die, if necessary, as my grandmother and father died. It’s such a strong idea that my mother, a woman born in Italy, dedicated her entire life to it…Here, I will defend this idea to the end,” he said.

He also said, “Fascism is already there. Democratic structures collapse. Parliament is no longer working. I haven’t been able to speak for two years, as soon as I speak they take my microphone off. The balance of powers is off. Justice is not independent. Centralism is absolute. The press is no longer free.”

“The manifestation of thought is prohibited. The concentration of wealth is scandalous. Hindu extremists of the RSS sect have infiltrated every institution and are conditioning it. People see no future because they are scared,” he noted.

On whether PM Modi can be defeated in next year’s elections, he said that if the opposition unites, one hundred per cent.

“I didn’t say he’ll lose for sure. I said it sure can be beaten. Provided you oppose a vision not linked to the right or the left, but to peace and union. Fascism is defeated by offering an alternative. If two visions of India confront each other in the vote, we will be able to prevail,” he asserted.