New Delhi:
Saying that the Congress party and the country are his life, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, officially crowned the party's No.2, in an impassioned speech on Sunday called for a "complete transformation" of the party system and developing a set of national level leaders "who can run the country".
Virtually sidestepping calls for him to become the party's prime ministerial candidate for 2014, Gandhi, 42, speaking in Hindi and English alternatively, said the Congress party "does not focus on leadership development".
Here are the reactions to Mr Gandhi's speech:
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh: "What we are seeing in Jaipur is the Congress's Obama moment". He praised Rahul on converting the Shivir into a youth oriented one.
Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh: "There was not even a single person who was not moved by his speech."
BJP leader Arun Jaitley: "World's largest democracy cannot be put to risk by risking ourselves in the hands of those whose actual potential we don't know and whose opinions on various subjects we do not know, whose policy regarding various issues we do not know."He also said that Rahul Gandhi's elevation in the Congress party was a move to convert the world's largest democracy into a dynastic one.
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad:Dismissive about the impact of his elevation, Mr Prasad said, "If they are doing it with the assumption that the fortune of the Congress will shine in 2014, they are entirely mistaken."
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman"Rahul Gandhi spoke like a leader of the opposition and not as someone from the ruling party." Criticising Mr Gandhi of speaking with great deal of idealism, she said, "I hope he is able to implement it in his own party first."
BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi"They need to understand the difference between a party where the prime ministerial candidate is born in a cradle and the one where he is born out of hard work and valour."
(With agency inputs)