Rahul wants to 'unify' splintered Uttar Pradesh
Apr 4, 2007 - 4:55:33 PM
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Rahul, who has been touring the southern parts of Uttar Pradesh since Monday, will wind up his road show in Agra.
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By Liz Mathew, IANS,
[RxPG] Kanpur, April 4 - Saying that 'everybody has divided everybody else' in Uttar Pradesh, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said Wednesday that unifying the state was key to solving its problems.
Rahul, who was here for his second road show ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, refused to comment on the caste equations in the state and also said he did not look at people as Hindu or Muslim.
'I have a deficiency. I am blind in these things. I do not look at somebody as a Muslim or a Hindu. I am not interested in knowing it either,' Rahul said when asked to comment on the caste factor in the April 7-May 8 polls.
He was speaking at a press conference - the first of its kind during his road show.
'I am not really worried about whether the road shows are successful or unsuccessful. What I am worried about is the long term process I have begun here right now,' said the MP from Amethi.
'It's a long term process in Uttar Pradesh. It has two elements. First is the involvement of youth for politics. I fundamentally believe that change is to be brought into Uttar Pradesh and it has to happen with a new mindset, which is more often brought by the youth.'
The young scion of Nehru-Gandhi family expressed concern over the deeply divided society of Uttar Pradesh.
'In Uttar Pradesh, there have been divisions. Everybody has divided everybody else and I fundamentally believe that the solution to Uttar Pradesh problems is unification - I think the Congress party is in the blest place to do that.
'To be blunt, I am not really interested in whether I get 100 successful road shows. My work will remain the same.'
He also suggested that the election results would not be matter to him.
'I am not looking at it as an event. I am not playing football to think that it is semi-final or final. My thinking is that it's a continuing process. It's irrelevant whether it is semi-final or final.'
Amid rumours that the Congress and his mother, party president Sonia Gandhi, were grooming him to be a prime minister, the 37-year-old MP clarified that he was not aiming at the post.
'In the last elections I clearly said that I am not into politics for positions. I am into the politics for allowing youngsters to come into a position where they can impact change. It's a change of ideas. It's a change of action.
'I don't personally think that our political system is at its most efficient,' he said.
Rahul, who has been shy of the media and rarely interacts with it, patiently answered most questions but was visibly irritated when asked to explain rising prices - something the Congress-led central government has drawn much flak for.
'You ask - Mulayam Singh Yadav. We are not in power in Uttar Pradesh,' he said.
He also refused to respond to remarks about him made by leaders of rival political parties.
'It is not required that we respond to every allegation and deny every charge made against the party. I think the notion of vindictive politics is not good.'
He also gave a mature reply when asked whether the Congress was in a position to overcome the extremely deep caste divisions in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh.
'I think the problem with the Congress party has been more organisational. At a certain point we stopped allowing people to come into our party. That is the fundamental cause of the decline of the Congress party -.
'- to open the doors of the Congress party to new ideas,' Rahul said.
'I think every political party needs to go through revolution regularly, the most important in a political party is constant dynamic thinking.'
Rahul, who has been touring the southern parts of Uttar Pradesh since Monday, will wind up his road show in Agra.
Tight security in this industrial city deterred Gandhi from mingling with the people. Rahul started his tour after his election meeting in Bhartana in Etawah district where Mulayam Singh is the Samajwadi Party candidate.
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