Madurai:
In a candid talk, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today told state party colleagues that it would take time for Congress to return to power in Tamil Nadu and asked them to build it from grassroot level.
"We are not in power for more than 40 years. Forget what happened in the past. Eventually we will come to power but it will take time. Before that we should strengthen the party at the ward and panchayat levels," he said during an interaction with Youth Congress workers here.
Congress would not be able to fight the elections in the state by leading an alliance unless it was strengthened at the ward and panchayat levels, Gandhi, who is on a mission to galvanise the party before the Assembly polls, said.
Gandhi's remarks came in response to a question by one of the workers as to why Congress should always ally with AIADMK or the DMK and allow them to lead the alliance and not bring either of the two Dravidian parties under its leadership.
His remarks assume significance in the light of demands from a section of Congressmen that the party should go alone amid speculations about its discomfort with the ruling DMK, particularly over the 2G spectrum issue.
Gandhi made it plain that there was no "short cut to form the Kamaraj regime (Congress rule) in Tamil Nadu".
When a worker suggested Gandhi himself should take the role of Kamaraj, he quipped "For that (to become the CM of Tamil Nadu) I should learn Tamil."
Addressing the newly elected office-bearers of the TN unit of Indian Youth Congress in Chennai, Gandhi, starting his two-day tour of the state from the capital, asked them to "slowly and systematically" build the organisation and urged more youngsters to join politics.
"This battle of yours to build the future of Congress will not be easy," he said underscoring the need to get closer to the people.
"We are not in power for more than 40 years. Forget what happened in the past. Eventually we will come to power but it will take time. Before that we should strengthen the party at the ward and panchayat levels," he said during an interaction with Youth Congress workers here.
Congress would not be able to fight the elections in the state by leading an alliance unless it was strengthened at the ward and panchayat levels, Gandhi, who is on a mission to galvanise the party before the Assembly polls, said.
Gandhi's remarks came in response to a question by one of the workers as to why Congress should always ally with AIADMK or the DMK and allow them to lead the alliance and not bring either of the two Dravidian parties under its leadership.
His remarks assume significance in the light of demands from a section of Congressmen that the party should go alone amid speculations about its discomfort with the ruling DMK, particularly over the 2G spectrum issue.
Gandhi made it plain that there was no "short cut to form the Kamaraj regime (Congress rule) in Tamil Nadu".
When a worker suggested Gandhi himself should take the role of Kamaraj, he quipped "For that (to become the CM of Tamil Nadu) I should learn Tamil."
Addressing the newly elected office-bearers of the TN unit of Indian Youth Congress in Chennai, Gandhi, starting his two-day tour of the state from the capital, asked them to "slowly and systematically" build the organisation and urged more youngsters to join politics.
"This battle of yours to build the future of Congress will not be easy," he said underscoring the need to get closer to the people.
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