Rahul Gandhi: join me in my fight for the people of the country

A day after being elevated as the Congress Vice President, Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday that he would fight for the people of India with everything he has and criticized the country’s power structure, as the Congress pledged to articulate the aspirations of the young and the middle class, create an investment-friendly business environment, and generate more jobs.

“Congress party is now my life,” Rahul Gandhi said on the last of a three-day AICC session – called chintan shivir in Jaipur. “The people of India are my life. I will fight for the people of India and for this party. I will fight with everything I have. I invite all of you to stand up and take on this fight.”

Rahul Gandhi hugged his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi before and after the speech, which was greeted with frequent applause by a 1,500-strong audience. “Power is grossly centralized in our country, we only empower people at the top of a system,” Rahul Gandhi said. “We don’t believe in empowering people all the way to bottom. Every single day I meet people who have tremendous understanding, deep insight and no voice... And then I meet people holding high positions with tremendous voice, but no understanding of the issues at hand.”

The leader of the young brigade in the Congress said India’s youth were angry “because they are alienated and are excluded from the political class”. “They watch from the sidelines as the powerful drive around in their lal battis (cars with red beacons),” he said. “Why are the poor confined to powerlessness and poverty? Because the decision over their lives and the services they need are decided by people far away, answerable to them only in theory.”

“People who are corrupt stand up and talk about eradicating corrupt, people who disrespect women in their every day life talk about women’s rights. We have to re-look at things in the system and we have to transform them completely,” Rahul Gandhi said.

The conclave in Jaipur comes ahead of a dozen state elections that will lead up to the general election due in 2014. It followed protests by the young and the middle class against alleged corruption in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Last month’s brutal assault and gang-rape of a student in a moving bus in Delhi also led to street protests and demands for tougher measures to deter crimes against women.