Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi ended his trip to Bengal by giving enough fodder on nearly every burning issue.
At first, he said that nobody can aspire to enter politics without connections.
“If you don’t have a name, connections and friends at proper places, you cannot come in,” Gandhi said in reply to a question at a press conference in Kolkata. “Main uska udaharan hoon, keh chuka hoon, bahut bar keh chuka hoon, (I am an example, I have said this many times),” he said.
Then, he gave a solution. He invited youth to become members of the Congress. “After the drive [membership], we will guarantee free and fair elections. There will be no nomination or quota,” he said.
Stating that the young comprising 70% of India was not in politics, he said, “I have been given responsibility of the Youth Congress and NSUI with the objective of bringing the youth into politics.”
Then, reporters asked Gandhi for his solution to the Maoist problem. He said that poverty and lack of connectivity were the reasons for the Maoist menace.
“I think Naxalism is the result of a complex circumstances. Poverty is one issue. In many parts of the country we need to improve political connectivity with youngsters so that people can be part of the mainstream,” he said.
Rahul also termed as "illegal" Vedanta's bauxite mining project in Orissa. "What was going on there is illegal. It is not a issue of corporate versus tribals. The real issue is illegal mining. It is criminal," he said in reply to a question.
