In his first visit to the All India Congress Committee headquarters as Congress vice-president, Rahul Gandhi tried to change the image associated with a typical politician.
Clad in blue jeans and a white kurta, he assured party veterans the likes of “Motilal Vora, Karan Singh, Ahmed Patel and Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit” were “respected”, as their combined experience was more than his age of 42. What was left unsaid was most of the ‘old guard’ (with the exception of performers like Sheila Dikshit) would probably make way for fresh faces in the organisation, something haunting many senior Congress senior leaders.
In his 25-minute interaction with party leaders, including general secretaries, secretaries and Congress Working Committee members, he said the party had very talented leaders and he intended to use that talent. Later, while speaking to the media, he pointed to his intention to “change and transform” things, saying the Congress party was “the best instrument to change things”. He said he would make the Congress “accessible to as many youngsters as possible”, adding his brand of politics would refrain from “negative politics”, in which all discussions were “extremely acrimonious.”
“I want to get into positive politics,” he said.
Gandhi rued the current state of politics in the country, which, he said reeked of “corruption”. He cited the example of Haryana and its former five-time chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, who was yesterday sentenced to 10-year imprisonment in a teachers’ appointment scam.
He said the current scenario, in which “the likes of chief ministers are also being sentenced to jail terms” was “unfortunate”.
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Gandhi also spoke of the enthusiasm of the youth at the changing face of the Congress party. He said at the just-concluded Chintan Shivir in Jaipur, several youngster told him earlier, they had a poor opinion of politics and politicians. But the way Congress leaders had actively participated and shared the platform with the youth had changed their perception.
Party insiders say Gandhi’s message was loud and clear– perform or perish Sources indicate senior leaders are scrambling to prove their proximity to the party’s second-in-command, the man who would lead them into the 2014 general elections.