Rahul Gandhi to youth: Ask what you can do for the nation

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi opined that instead of questioning the politicians as to what they can do for the country, the youth should ask itself what it can do,. "You got to stop asking your politicians how they are going to do this or that and start asking yourself, how you are going to do it. Because that is how this country is going to move forward," said Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi's response came while addressing a gathering in New Delhi when he was asked how he can help educate illiterate children. He was chairing a talk on 'Future of the Internet- 1.2 Billion Empowered Indians' by Vice President and Chief Internal Evangelist of Google Vinton G Cerf.

"Can I ask you a counter-question? How you are going to help them? Not as a citizen but as a young Indian, how you are going to help them?" he asked the questioner, a JNU student. Observing that there are two ways to deal with the problem, Gandhi said, "One way is to think in a rigid way. How we do this in a linear manner and the other way is to think in an exponential way."

You got to stop asking your politicians how they are going to do this or that and start asking yourself, Rahul Gandhi said. "To say that internet is not connected to the eight year old child, you are cutting off a very very powerful avenue. We don't know how it's connected. Let that child, let his aspirations catch fire."

Referring to Sam Pitroda, Rahul Gandhi said, "He too could have looked at it and said we want to provide access to every Indian over telephone and thought about it in a linear fashion. They would have never got that, they would be sitting here right now, still figuring out how to get phones to Indians."

"What they essentially did is that they came out with something called a rural exchange. You must have all seen a PCO and that humble PCO is actually what gave you cell phones in your hands. Because it suddenly opened up the system to millions of people and it did not do so in a linear way. It did that in an exponential way," Rahul Gandhi said.

Inaugurating the session, the Congress leader also emphasised on creating IT-based systems and structures which helps the country deal with its several complexities. Replying to a poser on how many free Aakash tablets have been distributed by the government in the past one year, Gandhi said, "Frankly I am not the person who came up with the Aakash tablet. You need to ask the gentleman who came up with it and you need to ask him that question."

Rahul Gandhi: We should be careful in ticket distribution for elections

The newly appointed Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi sent a strong warning in his maiden speech after taking over the new post during the AICC session in Jaipur. Clearly it will disappoint the leaders from other parties who join Congress at election time in the hope of getting tickets.

Rahul Gandhi disapproved of granting tickets to such leaders who, he said, come to the party only to contest polls and fly out after getting defeated. "We have to change this," he told the AICC meeting in his first speech after becoming the Vice President. Amid repeated applause from party-men, Rahul Gandhi regretted that when the time of granting ticket in election comes, the grass-root worker is ignored and the ticket is given following instructions from top to someone who has arrived from some other party. He said that Congress worker should get respect and those party-men who contest as independent after denying tickets or put up independent candidates needed to be proceeded against.

Rahul Gandhi said that no other party has the capability and the depth like the Congress. He said that despite these shortcomings, Congress comes back to power because it represents "the DNA of India", a fact, which other parties representing a particular religion or caste, fail to understand.

Respect people with knowledge and understanding, Rahul Gandhi tells Congressmen

Newly appointed Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said while speaking on the last day of the three-day AICC session in Jaipur that he would work to transform the country by decentralizing power. He also condemned elitism as "the tragedy of India" and vowed to work to expand access to power for ordinary people.

"For me, the Congress party is my life. The people of India are my life and I will fight for them," said Rahul Gandhi. Reflecting on his eight years while working for the party organization, Rahul Gandhi said country's governmental system was struck in the past and the answer lay in completely transforming it. "A handful of people control the entire political space" he said to cheering party workers. "It doesn't matter how much wisdom you have. If you don't have position, you have nothing. That's the tragedy of India," he said. Rahul Gandhi also said youths are angry because they have been excluded from the political class.

"We only empower people at the top of the system. We don't believe in empowering all the way to the bottom," said the Congress leader. He said 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," he said. Such a system promotes mediocrity, he added.

Rahul Gandhi’s maiden speech after taking over the new party post was filled with emotions and determination and the Party has a great hope in this young leader and they expect that the party can reach new miles under his leadership.

Rahul Gandhi: Young and impatient India now demands a greater role in decision making

Rahul Gandhi, the newly-appointed Congress vice-president, said on Sunday in an impassioned speech outlining the need for the Congress to develop leadership and give prominence to grassroots workers that a complete transformation in the system is needed as young and impatient India now demands a greater role in decision making.

Rahul Gandhi in his first speech after taking over as the party vice president also asked the party to respect the youths' demands. "We don't need better systems, we need a complete transformation in the system, we need 40-50 leaders at the national level (anyone of whom can be prime minister) and seven to 10 at the state level (for chief minister)," Rahul Gandhi said.

"We should focus on creating leaders for the country," he said adding that "no other party has so much depth". But Rahul Gandhi also said there was no need to rush with change, which, he said, has to be backed by careful thought.

The Congress leader said his new responsibility was a big one and told party workers that he will treat all of them equally, will learn from their experiences but will only play a judge. "It is a big responsibility. I will work for everybody from today but I will play the judge and not the lawyer," he said. According to him, the time has come to question the "centralized, unaccountable system and decision making must shift from Delhi to the panchayats".

"Why do a handful of people control the entire political space," he asked, adding that "people with little understanding were sitting at high positions". Rahul Gandhi warned the youth was angry and feeling alienated with the existing system. "Until we start to respect and empower people, we cannot change anything in this country... all are closed systems, designed for mediocrity, mediocrity dominates," he said.

Hinting at things to come, he also said that action will be taken against party deserters who become rebels and fight as Independents. Noting that "one cannot achieve anything without hope," he said "we should not chase power, we should use power to empower people."

Rahul Gandhi struck an emotional chord when he related how his mother and the Congress president had cried when she met him Saturday night. "Last night, everyone congratulated me and hugged me. But last night, my mother came to my room and she sat near me and cried. Why did she cry.. she cried because she understands that the power that so many see is poison. She can see it because she is not attached to it (power)," he said

Rahul Gandhi stresses for the need to respect knowledge

In his first remarks as the newly elected vice president of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi offered a searing critique of the nation’s poor governance setup. Rahul Gandhi said power in India is “grossly centralized,” with decisions made “by a handful of people behind closed doors who are not fully accountable.”

Too often, said the newly appointed Congress Vice President, state chief ministers and central government ministries make decisions that local officials should be making. “We only empower people at the top of the system,” Rahul Gandhi said. “We don’t believe in empowering people all the way to the bottom.” He also took aim at the leaders India taps, arguing that the best informed people aren’t always those who wind up in powerful positions.

“Every single day I meet people who have tremendous understanding, deep insight and no voice,” he said. “And then I meet people holding high positions with tremendous voice but no understanding for the issues at hand.” He added:  “We don’t respect knowledge. We respect position.”

 “All our public systems” he said, including administration, justice and education, “are designed to keep people with knowledge out. They are closed systems. They are designed to promote mediocrity”, continued the Congress leader. “The answer is not to run these systems better,” Mr. Gandhi said. “We have to rethink these systems and transform them completely,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi also took a dig at political double-speak mainly by the opponents and said, “People who are corrupt stand up and talk about eradicating corruption,” he said, “and then people who disrespect women everyday…talk about women’s rights.” “There is a young and impatient India and it is demanding a voice in the nation’s future,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi also listed some of the accomplishments of the Congress-led government, including the Right to Information Act that he said has empowered Indians to hold public officials accountable for corruption, and its flagship welfare initiative, the rural job guarantee program. Rahul said a planned food security bill “will ensure that no mother sees her child go hungry at night.”

Rahul Gandhi's first interaction with media after taking over as Congress Vice President

Newly appointed Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had a brief interaction with the media persons when he visited AICC office for the first time after taking over the new assignment. "Congress is the big instrument that can bring in changes. Congress party is a big instrument that brings in more youngsters. And it is the big and strong instrument than can transform the country" said Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi visits AICC office for the first time after taking over as Congress Vice President

Congress leaders greeted newly appointed Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on his first visit to AICC office after taking over as the new assignment in the party. The leaders greeted the young leader with followers and by shaking hands. Rahul Gandhi was appointed as Congress Vice President in the recently held Congress' Chintan Shivir at Jaipur.

Rahul Gandhi’s initiative: Youth to have a significant presence in Jaipur Congress session

Congress General Secretary always argued that if the development is to be completed more and more young people should join politics. Their increased participation will cleanse the system and strengthen democracy, he stressed on several occasions. And this strong positive concept reportedly got a good acknowledgment  in the Congress party and the Jaipur Congress’ session is likely to have a good number of youth.

The party this time has emphasized on the necessity for adequate participation of youth. Of the 350 delegates invited to take part in the Chintan Shivir, about 120 delegates will be from frontal organizations like the Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.

Young people will be given emphasis because the party is seriously looking at emerging challenges such as protests by the youth and forms of expression provided by tools such as social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The Congress party understands the strength and influence of social media among the youngsters and so correctly wants to reach out to all age groups who use such tools.

New media or social media is something that services the information needs of crores of young people. Congress thinks it would be of worth to the government to see how it could be best leverage its own message.

In fact, reconnecting with the urban middle class and improving delivery systems including dispensation of justice to the poor is something that the party hopes to debate threadbare. These topics are clearly a fallout of the recent protests that saw apolitical groups, largely comprising the youth, who braved police batons and water cannons to protest against, what is being perceived as a callous and an unresponsive system.

Proceedings of the Chintan Shivir will start with an opening speech of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and will end on January 20 with the adoption of the Jaipur Declaration.