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Thursday, Jan 24, 2008
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We are not desperate: Rahul Gandhi

Gargi Parsai

Congress and BJP are political adversaries

Plans to undertake a tour of the country next month
Alleges non-utilisation of funds in Bundelkhand

NEW DELHI: All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and MP Rahul Gandhi asserted here on Wednesday that his party did not have its back up against the wall after the recent Assembly poll debacle in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

“No, the Congress does not have its back up against the wall. Politics is not like an off and on switch. You win and you lose. It does not mean that you are in or out,” he said.

This was Mr. Gandhi’s first interaction, albeit informal, with the media after taking over as party general secretary.

He spoke on a number of issues including the BJP, the Gujarat poll debacle, the aspirations of the youth, his plan to tour all States, Bundelkhand and his mother Sonia Gandhi’s recent illness.

The occasion was a luncheon hoisted by AICC media committee chairman M. Veerappa Moily.

“This is not a press conference. I am here on Mr. Moily’s invitation for lunch,” Mr. Gandhi said, but later, took a few questions.

Asked about his chance meeting with BJP leader L.K. Advani at an airport, Mr. Gandhi said he was not in the business of making private conversations public. “I have an obligation to myself.”

Mr. Advani had said that he was touched by Mr. Rahul’s gesture of reaching out to him in that chance meeting when he told the young MP that the Congress and the BJP were political adversaries, not enemies. Mr. Gandhi said: “BJP is a political adversary because they believe in things we do not.”

More access

As the general secretary in charge of the Youth Congress, Mr. Gandhi said the youth today felt distanced from the political class.

“The general issue is that the youth would prefer more access to the decision-making and the new thinking in politics.”

‘Ground realities’

He said he was doing an assessment of the “ground realities” in the party, after which, he planned to undertake a tour of the country next month starting with southern States. “Also, there are experienced people in the party who should be utilised to build institutions as opposed to functioning on ad hoc basis.”

The MP from Amethi, who recently addressed a rally in the drought-hit region of Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh, said the situation was “bad” there due to the failure of the delivery system and the non-utilisation of funds. “I have spoken to the Prime Minister and the Congress President. A central team is being sent there for a spot assessment.”

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