He was addressing Youth Congress activists at Hamirpur and Jalaun in the underdeveloped Bundelkhand region, where he sought to make inroads through a two-day tour commencing Friday.
"In order to strengthen the Indian democracy, we need to first emphasise on following basic democratic norms within our organisational set up," he was stated to have told the gatherings in both the places.
Citing the example of Punjab from where Rahul began his campaign for revitalisation of the party's youth wing, he said, "Just as we conducted Youth Congress elections in Punjab, we need to do so in other parts of the country to promote democracy within the party."
Expressing satisfaction at the response shown by local youth at the membership drives undertaken by the party in parts of Bundelkhand, he said, "This will go a long way in reinforcing the party at its roots."
Training his guns on the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, he lamented over the failure of non-Congress
governments over the past two decades to get UP to keep pace with the rest of the country.
"While the nation was marching ahead, Uttar Pradesh was lagging far behind despite its rich potential," he lamented.
Flaying Mayawati regime for "improper utilisation and pilferage of funds allocated by the centre towards various development schemes," the Congress leader cited an glaring example of blatant misappropriation of funds under the centrally funded National Rural Health Mission, which triggered the murder of two successive district chief medical officers in the state.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had landed in Kanpur, from where he drove down to Hamirpur and Jalaun. According to state Congress spokesman Subodh Srivastava , "Rahul was denied permission to land in Hamirpur, so he chose to fly to Kanpur."
He added, "Rahul was keen on spending the night in Banda where he is scheduled to address a public rally along with Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday, but the district authorities refused accommodation in the local circuit house that was stated to be reserved for a wedding in the family of UP Public Works Department minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui."
