Democratic politics have changed globally: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that democratic politics have fundamentally changed across the globe and the rules that applied a decade ago no longer hold good.

Addressing the concluding session of the two-day Bharat Summit-2025 in Hyderabad, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that the traditional tools of politics are no longer effective against the modern concentration of capital, media, and social media.

Gandhi said the old model of political leadership is now “obsolete” and a new kind of leadership must be constructed, and added that the real challenge lies in reclaiming democratic spaces and reimagining priorities such as healthcare.

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“The tools that once worked cannot stand up to the modern concentration of capital, media, and social media. The old model of a politician is obsolete; a new kind of leadership must be constructed,” he said.

Speaking on the reasons that led him to undertake the “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, he said that the Congress felt “trapped and isolated” in a political atmosphere that no longer allowed it to operate freely.

“Some years ago, we in the Congress party felt completely trapped and isolated. This new politics, aggressive politics, a politics where the opposition is not talked to but the idea is to crush the opposition. We found that all our avenues were compromised. The media, the general atmosphere did not allow us to operate the way we would like,” he said.

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The political atmosphere prompted the Rae Barelil MP to turn to history and embark on a 4,000km journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir as part of his “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, Gandhi said. The Congress leader said that he learnt two things from the journey.

“First, our opponents have a monopoly on anger and fear—we cannot fight them on that ground. But during the yatra, I discovered the transformative power of listening. I spoke less and listened more, and that changed everything.”

The second lesson was about embracing love in politics, pointing out the genesis of his slogan “nafrat ke bazaar me mohabbat ki dukaan” (setting up a shop of love in a market of hatred).

“Until the yatra, I had never used the word ‘love’ in politics. But once I did, people began to respond,” he said. “No matter how much hatred someone spreads, the most powerful way to disrupt them is not to argue with them but right in front of their hatred, to place the idea of love and affection

Gandhi said he realised that politicians have failed to listen to people’s voices. “No matter how much hatred someone spreads, the most powerful way to disrupt them is not to argue with them but right in front of their hatred, to place the idea of love and affection,” he said.

Disagreements on policy will always exist, however, while some operate through the lens of anger and fear, we must view the world through the lens of love, affection, and empathy, Gandhi noted.

The Congress MP thanked the delegates of Bharat Summit for their solidarity with India in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack.

Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy, who was also part of the event, said his government was working on fulfilling the aspirations of all sections of society, including students, youth, farmers, women and the oppressed communities in particular.

“Women, farmers, and youth are the main partners in our government. Telangana is blessed with wonderful women entrepreneurs. Some women formed self-help groups with 67 lakh (6.7 million) members. Our goal is to promote one crore (10 million) women as millionaires. Women groups are establishing solar power plants, owning electric RTC buses and petrol pumps in the state,” he said.

The chief minister said his government’s policy was to generate more revenue and distribute the wealth to the poor. The government is transparent and proactive in introducing reforms. “We invite all the delegates to join our mission to bring a change in the lives of people and appeal to them to share their experiences, knowledge and skills with the state government and become ‘Telangana Rising’ brand ambassadors,” he said.