Rahul Gandhi at AICC session promises partymen to treat everyone equally

"From today Rahul Gandhi will work for all. I want to promise that I will treat all of you equally, be it young leaders, experienced leaders, women. I will listen to everybody," said Rahul Gandhi, the newly appointed Congress Vice President while delivering his maiden speech after the new party post. He struck an emotional chord with the party members and said that his new role would be "that of a judge and not a lawyer".

Making a strong pitch for focus on leadership development, he said, "we have to prepare 40 to 50 leaders, who can run the country. Similarly we should have 5 to 10 leaders in states, any one of whom can become Chief Minister". Rahul Gandhi also recalled that after India became independent, Congress had giants like Nehru, Patel and Azad, anyone of whom could have become the Prime Minister.

Addressing the youth, he said, "we need to respond to urgent demand for jobs" and added that the decision to create further job needs to be liberated from irrational laws. Rahul Gandhi came down heavily on the Opposition parties and criticised them for terming the Aadhar scheme as bribing the people. Rahul underlined the benefits of schemes like MNREGA, Food Bill, Right to Education, Direct cash transfer scheme. Touching on the issue of anomaly in ticket distribution, Gandhi said politicians from other parties join Congress at the time of election and then go back to their previous parties after losing the elections. He said such leaders from outside "parachute" just before polls and "fly away" after losing the election.

"Our workers are left in the lurch. This has to change. First and foremost, the Congress workers should be honoured. Then there is a problem of people putting up rebels during elections. There is a need to take action against them," he said. Striking a personal note, the young leader recalled the moments when his mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi walked into his room last night. "Last night each one of you congratulated me. My mother came to my room and she sat with me and she cried... Because she understands that power so many people seek is actually a poison," Rahul Gandhi said.

He recalled the time his grandmother and the then PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by security guards with whom he used to play badminton as "friends" and how his father Rajiv Gandhi, who was himself "broken inside", showed a "glimmer of hope" to the people.

After the speech, Rahul hugged his mother and later the Prime Minister, while other senior leaders greeted him with some of them giving him a warm embrace.