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.