Rahul Gandhi wants youth in lower strata of power
UDUPI: It was an occasion they would cherish for the rest of their lives. They looked upto him to show them the way. When Rahul Gandhi walked into Shamili Hall in Mangalore at 2:20pm, a 5000-plus strong youth conglomeration cheered his entry.
Rahul was at ease and didn't waste any time. He told the audience to fight corruption relentlessly at all levels and strengthen the Youth Congress. He stressed that the nomination culture of the party be shunned.
"Implementing RTI was one of the greatest achievements of the Congress government in recent times which made a big impact to bring about transparency at all levels. Had RTI not been implemented, many of these scams we talk about would not have even surfaced," he said.
Rahul encouraged the crowd to ask pertinent questions. Youth Congess member Edmond Fernandes, an MBBS student of Father Mullers Medical College, said his grouse was that though he was enrolled as a member of the party, his many attempts to contact Rahul either through e-mail or SMS never saw a response from the young politician. Rahul replied that he
received umpteen SMSes and emails every day and that it would require a lifetime to individually contact the senders. However, he said he would try to work out a way to be accessible.
A girl from Mangalore asked Rahul why women did not get a fair chance in politics through Congress. He smiled and said, "Who said women are not getting a fair chance? Our own party president (Sonia) is a woman. Two of the AICC secretaries attached to me are women. Shanimol Usman looks after the IYC and Meenakshi Natarajan looks after the NSUI and many more such women leaders are coming up in the Congress organization."
Questions about the government's delay to act against the "corrupt Yeddyurappa government" and why the Congress did not extend a second term to APJ Abdul Kalam as president left him saying, "I have a lot of respect for Kalam, but you must ask these questions to MPs and MLAs. As for the corrupt state government, it is run by a different party and we have our own limitations to deal with the situation."
Most of his speech stressed on the need for organizational elections in the party. Rahul said, "The nomination culture is no more in the Youth Congress and NSUI. Inner party elections in Youth Congress in Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu proved to be very effective and even the Election Commission and oppostion parties have lauded our measures." He cited the recently concluded Kerala elections as an example, "Eighteen youth Congressmen who went through this process got tickets. My motive is not to get more cabinet berths for youth at this juncture. I prefer more committed youth to get into the lower strata of power like GPs, assembly, council and gradulally the Parliament. The balance of the old and the young would bring more vigour to Congress."
Rahul was at ease and didn't waste any time. He told the audience to fight corruption relentlessly at all levels and strengthen the Youth Congress. He stressed that the nomination culture of the party be shunned.
"Implementing RTI was one of the greatest achievements of the Congress government in recent times which made a big impact to bring about transparency at all levels. Had RTI not been implemented, many of these scams we talk about would not have even surfaced," he said.
Rahul encouraged the crowd to ask pertinent questions. Youth Congess member Edmond Fernandes, an MBBS student of Father Mullers Medical College, said his grouse was that though he was enrolled as a member of the party, his many attempts to contact Rahul either through e-mail or SMS never saw a response from the young politician. Rahul replied that he
received umpteen SMSes and emails every day and that it would require a lifetime to individually contact the senders. However, he said he would try to work out a way to be accessible.
A girl from Mangalore asked Rahul why women did not get a fair chance in politics through Congress. He smiled and said, "Who said women are not getting a fair chance? Our own party president (Sonia) is a woman. Two of the AICC secretaries attached to me are women. Shanimol Usman looks after the IYC and Meenakshi Natarajan looks after the NSUI and many more such women leaders are coming up in the Congress organization."
Questions about the government's delay to act against the "corrupt Yeddyurappa government" and why the Congress did not extend a second term to APJ Abdul Kalam as president left him saying, "I have a lot of respect for Kalam, but you must ask these questions to MPs and MLAs. As for the corrupt state government, it is run by a different party and we have our own limitations to deal with the situation."
Most of his speech stressed on the need for organizational elections in the party. Rahul said, "The nomination culture is no more in the Youth Congress and NSUI. Inner party elections in Youth Congress in Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu proved to be very effective and even the Election Commission and oppostion parties have lauded our measures." He cited the recently concluded Kerala elections as an example, "Eighteen youth Congressmen who went through this process got tickets. My motive is not to get more cabinet berths for youth at this juncture. I prefer more committed youth to get into the lower strata of power like GPs, assembly, council and gradulally the Parliament. The balance of the old and the young would bring more vigour to Congress."
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