Kerala: Rahul Gandhi for young candidates, transparent selection process

KOZHIKODE: Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi said that UDF will sweep the upcoming assembly elections in the state and promised to play an active role in the poll campaign.


Speaking at the UDF conventions at Nilambur and Mampad on Wednesday, Rahul, who is on a two day visit to his constituency, said that he had told senior party leaders from the state who recently met him in Delhi that he will “fight whichever battle the UDF wants to fight and will go wherever the UDF wants him to go for the election campaign”.

Rahul told the party workers that he has given “three prescriptions” to the senior party leaders — giving representation to as many young fresh faces as possible, making the UDF manifesto a people’s manifesto by involving people from all walks of life in its preparation and choosing candidates in a transparent manner.

“I said to them that I will give them my full support... We will ensure that we do not just win the election. We will ensure that we sweep the election," Rahul said.

Elaborating on the directions he had given to the party leaders, he said that the party should take best advantage of its young leaders. “I understand that there is a place for experience, but it is also important that we build the UDF and Congress of the future. So we have to give representation to as many young fresh faces as possible," he said.

Rahul said that the process by which the candidates are selected should be more transparent and the candidates connected to the people should be chosen.

“We have to select candidates transparently and we need to make sure that we don't do the process inside closed doors,” he said.

Rahul said that the upcoming election was very important as it is an ideological fight with the NDA government in Delhi and also LDF government in the state.

Cong leader lashes out at Modi

About the Left Front, you know better the damage the LDF policies have done for the future of Kerala,” he said.

Lashing out at PM Narendra Modi, Rahul said the man with the 56-inch chest has not said the word ‘China’ during the last six months. “You know the damage the PM is doing to the country. Today, Chinese troops are sitting inside Indian territory. Our economy, which used to be one of the best performing in the world, has collapsed and out youngsters simply cannot get jobs. This is the result of the ideology of the RSS. Of course, the PM is incompetent, but the real cause of this failure is the hatred RSS is spreading in the country,” he added.

Stating that the PM is insisting on doing everything for five or six of his friends, he said every single industry in the country has been monopolized by them.

“Whether it is your mobile phone, airports, ports, power, agriculture, every single sector is monopolized by these five people, thanks to the PM,” Rahul added.

Rahul will attend various programmes in Wayanad on Thursday.