By IANS,
Raipur : Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said here Friday that he enjoyed “very good personal relations” with Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party.
“I have very good personal relations with Lalu Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav besides Sharad Pawar (of Nationalist Congress Party),” Gandhi remarked in a lighter vein to duck a question at a press conference about possibility of a merger of the Congress with the NCP.
RJD and Samajwadi Party’s seat sharing talks with the Congress broke down ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, while there has been speculation that Congress’ alliance partner NCP would merge with it in Maharashtra.
Rahul Gandhi landed in Chhattisgarh Thursday evening on a two-day visit in connection with the ongoing election of National Students Union of India (NSUI), the party’s students wing.
He said: “I am striving hard to bring talented youth to the party and have begun the process with the NSUI and the Youth Congress.”
He rejected the charge that only criminals and rich people were with the NSUI and the Youth Congress. “It’s over generalisation, a lot of talented people are joining the NSUI and the Youth Congress. Though people with money power are sneaking into these two cells, 90 percent of the problem has now been corrected and the remaining 10 percent to will be sorted out,” Gandhi said.
He continued: “Everyone will be elected and there will be a democratic party set-up right from panchayat, block, district and state level, talented youth will be given prominence.
“I can tell you many people who have no money but have the potential are coming into the NSUI and the Youth Congress. I am working on a system where only talented persons can emerge.”