Rahul tells the youth to have open mind and flexible approach

The Congress general secretary, Rahul Gandhi tried to capture the young minds in Shimla by openly accepting ``what all has gone wrong in the political parties while giving them a vision for future.'', reports Ravinder Vasudeva.

The Congress general secretary, Rahul Gandhi tried to capture the young minds in Shimla by openly accepting ``what all has gone wrong in the political parties while giving them a vision for future.''

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``You have to be open minded and flexible in approach. And learn as much as you can if you want to grow,'' he said at an interaction with students at Himachal Pradesh University campus here on Tuesday.

About a thousand students were present in the auditorium, and equal number kept waiting outside the venue, as they could not be accommodated for want of space.

He talked about democracy in the political organizations and said his effort was to have ``more youngsters coming from the grass roots to frontal organizations of congress party, the NSUI and youth congress''.

Rahul said ``the present political system is closed. It does not give a chance to ordinary and capable people come to the mainstream. ``My effort is to open the doors of frontal organizations of Congress, Youth congress and NSUI to such youth, who come through election. Groom them, train them, and ultimately take them in Congress, as they prove their worth.''

But, he hastened to add ``still we need to have a proper mix of the experience and the youth.'' In this regard, he said, ``Elders and the experienced have their own role in every organization. Look at Dr. Manmohan Singh. He is 70 years. But he is as energetic and positive in functioning as any young person.''

The Congress leader said people make fun of his visits to the poor and the dalit families. ``I go to them to get knowledge, their perception and views. Its not a show off. I try that their feedback should be incorporated in the government policies.''

He said ``you cannot know the grass root situation sitting in Planning Commission in Delhi. Before coming out with policies for the poor, you have to know the pulse and the need.''

The Congress general secretary took a dig at political parties and cited example of Jinnah controversy that rocked BJP recently. ``What happened 63 years ago is a history. We have to move on.''

Rahul addressed the students for about half an hour, and then took six questions from the students in the next half an hour. This, however, disappointed many a aspirants who had pointed questions for Rahul in their mind but were not allowed to raise them for shortage of time.

``I wanted to ask him a specific question on his personal views on reservation. I tried it several times, but the organizers ignored me,'' said Joginder Saklani, general secretary, HP M.Phil and Ph.D Students Association.