Rahul knows that India’s real strength lies in villages

24 years have passed when Late Rajiv Gandhi dreamt of taking India into 21st century. Today, India is emerging as a strong country and Rahul Gandhi, who is following the footprints of his father, has tossed an important question and the question is; from where does India gets it' s strength?...
In the course of Lok Sabha election 2009, Rahul often raised this question and he tried to find the answer himself. He talked about his visit to Amethi with a British minister (David Milliband) where they had food and spent night with villagers. Rahul said, “The British minister asked me as to where do India gets it's strength? I told him that if he wanted to feel the strength of India he would have to go to villages. The strength of India could not be understood in an air-conditioned room in Delhi. Thereafter Rahul went on telling as to how he took Milliband to Amethi, had food, talked to people and spent a night. He said that a foreigner easily understood the strength of India but BJP could not understand it. He criticized opposition for not recognizing the hard labour, struggle, optimism and honest values of the villagers and said that the opposition was trapped in the complete hangover of India shining and urbane glitter.

When Rahul talks about the villages and hinterland, Rajiv Gandhi appears again before people in their mind. Due to IT revolution, Rajiv Gandhi is considered as the symbol of urban development but the silent revolution Rajiv Gandhi initiated through Panchati Raj has become Rahul’s main campaign plank.
Rahul Gandhi is showing the world how villages are being transformed through Panchayats. There is great similarity between the father and the son; both are great listeners as experienced by this correspondent during various tours with both leaders.

Rajivji listened to the villagers for hours as Manishankar Aiyyar a long time associate of Rajivji recalls. “When Rajivji talked to villagers it was difficult to guess how much time had passed. It is interesting that Rahul Gandhi does not tell one thing about his visit to Amethi with Milliband that he played the role of a translator for hours between Milliband and the villagers.

Rahiv Gandhi strengthened the base of grass root democracy by empowering villages through Panchayati Raj. On the same line, Rahul is making new experiments in Youth Congress and student organization of the party by bringing democracy within them. He has successfully conducted elections of Youth Congress and NSUI in Punjab and Uttarakhand under the supervision of ex-CEC J M Lyngodh. The party swept the election in both these states bagging all the five seats in Uttarkhand and 9 out of 13 in Punjab. However, Rahul’s strategy in winning these seats are yet to be analyzed.
excerpts from http://pressbrief.in/