Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday described himself as “old” and only playing the role of a catalyst for strengthening the youth wing of the party.
“If you do a demographic analysis of the population, I am old. I am 39. If you see the population of the country, 60 per cent of our population is below 40,” he told reporters here.
The Congress general secretary said he has not empowered the youth of the country or the Youth Congress but the youth have empowered themselves.
“Rahul Gandhi has not empowered the Youth Congress. The youth empowered themselves in the Youth Congress. I am a catalyst. I am not the leader of the Youth Congress. I am not even a member of the Youth Congress. My job is to make it a dynamic and powerful organisation,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi said he has been trying to democratise the two key arms of his party — NSUI and Youth Congress.
“We are moving to a system which listens to the voice of the youth,” he said adding he wants to concentrate on the future of the NSUI, Youth Congress and the party itself.
He said, “We want them (youth) to come out with their leaders. We want them to say this is the man we want to lead us in the Youth Congress.”
Asked whether the family members of the Congress leaders are having an advantage in the party affairs, he said, “There are a lot of leaders in Punjab, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu who have no family connections.”
