March 26, 2008 'Ageing' Rahul
Beckons Youth
to Join Politics
Mangalore
Calling himself "an old person", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
Wednesday exhorted youths to join politics and take up leadership
roles to strengthen the Indian democracy.
Addressing Youth Congress workers here on the second day of his
five-day tour of Karnataka, Gandhi said that at 37 years he was
getting old.
He would like the younger generation to enter politics to widen the
democratic base and to serve the people to make India a developed
country.
"At 37, I am already an old person. But a majority of our over
billion-strong people is younger than me, constituting about 70
percent of the population. That is the strength of India. We have to
harness the huge potential of our youth power to become a developed
nation," Gandhi told about 500 party workers, many of them in the
20s.
Regretting that internal democracy was lacking in many political
parties, Gandhi told the young audience to think of out-of-box
solutions to tackle endemic problems such as poverty, illiteracy,
discrimination and exploitation.
"You should make a difference by ushering in a refreshing change in
the political system by ensuring internal democracy for a healthy
socio-economic development. We need to cleanse the political process
to provide an honest and efficient governance," Gandhi noted.
Terming the present-day youth as the future of India, the scion of
the Nehru-Gandhi family said that if the election process could be
regulated and made more effective by a constitutional body like the
Election Commission, there was no reason why political parties
should not also act with greater transparency and accountability.
Due to inclement weather and unseasonable rains, a scheduled rally
and public meeting had to be cancelled. After interacting with party
leaders and workers, Gandhi flew to Hubli, about 480 km from
Bangalore, to attend other programmes.
Earlier, Gandhi flew into this port city on the west coast by a
chopper after an overnight stay at the Rajiv Gandhi national park at
Nagarahole on the southern fringes of the rich bio-diverse Western
Ghats.
Waking up early, Gandhi went on hour-long safari in the sanctuary,
named after his late father, for a breathtaking view of the rich
flora and fauna in the reserved forest. He also interacted with
environmentalists, social activists and NGOs.
"Rahul Gandhi stayed in the same forest guest house where his
grandmother Indira Gandhi did three decades ago (1978)," a Youth
Congress spokesman told IANS.
The 53-year-old national park straddles the Mysore-Chamarajanagar
districts bordering Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
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