NEW DELHI:
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday told partymen that BJP had
made a mountain of promises and the coming months would be the time to hold
them to their manifesto.
The Congress
vice-president told leaders of Youth Congress that protests would be the way of
politics in the opposition after the defeat in Lok Sabha polls. Rahul Gandhi
said Congress should be ready to seize on the failings of the BJP government,
of which non-fulfilment of promises would be a big component.
As far as
Congress-led UPA government's record was concerned, the BJP could not touch the
immense progress done under Manmohan Singh's regime, he said. Rahul was
addressing a closed-door review meet of Youth Congress.
Further, a
strong demand for Rahul Gandhi to take the role of the Leader of Opposition in
Lok Sabha was today made at a meeting of Indian Youth Congress (IYC).
"Youth Congress leaders want Rahulji should be Leader of Opposition.
Demand raised before leadership at Youth Congress meeting," IYC chief
Rajeev Satav said in a tweet following the meeting.
Satav said that
although Rahul Gandhi assured them that he would be with them through thick and
thin, he did not reveal his mind over the demand for him to be Leader of
Opposition. The IYC members also told Gandhi that they would back him the way
they had backed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during her difficult days.
The meeting saw Rahul Gandhi asking the youth Congress unit to be battle- ready
even as he promised widespread changes in Congress. "Rahulji urges youth
Congress leaders to be ready for struggle. He addressed Youth Congress at
Constitution Club, New Delhi," Satav said in another tweet after the
nearly three-hour-long meeting.
Rahul Gandhi
also told the gathering that the party would see greater representation of the
youth and discussed the reasons that led to Congress ending up with its
worst-ever tally of 44 MPs in Lok Sabha. A number of Congress general
secretaries have been pitching for Gandhi to become the Leader of Opposition
saying that since the Lok Sabha polls had seen the Congress Vice President
being pitted as the party's face against BJP's Narendra Modi, it was but
natural for him to lead when the chips were down.