Join politics, Rahul Gandhi urges students in Assam

GUWAHATI - Clad casually in jeans and a half-sleeve shirt, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Thursday mingled freely with students at three premier Assam institutions Thursday and urged them to join politics to ensure that India’s future “could be changed for the better”.

“If young people do not enter politics, then the pace of development will get stagnant and at times not even be possible. It is time the younger people join politics to make a difference so that burning issues confronting India, including terrorism, are solved,” Gandhi told a packed auditorium at the Assam University in Silchar.

Gandhi was on a daylong Assam visit, interacting with students first at the Assam University, then the Dibrugarh University, and addressing another big crowd of students at the Indian Institute of Technology in Guwahati.

“It is absolutely necessary for youths to actively participate in politics so that the future of India could be changed for the better,” the Congress general secretary told students at Dibrugarh.

Gandhi mingled with students and shared lighter moments at all the venues.

The scene was slightly unusual at the Dibrugarh University where supporters of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) resorted to a protest, saying Gandhi’s visit to the campus would vitiate the academic atmosphere.

A group of students tried blocking the road when the Congress leader was leaving the Dibrugarh University campus. But Gandhi stopped his motorcade and jumped out of the vehicle to talk to the protesting students.

“Protests are part of a good democracy,” Gandhi was heard telling the group before leaving them with a smile.

Girl students at almost all the three venues were simply smitten by his charm.

“I am speechless and have no words after seeing him… I thought of shouting ‘I love you Rahul’, but checked myself at the last moment,” said Rupali Das, a student in Silchar.

“I would have loved to propose marriage to him,” said Shilpa Rani, another student.

Gandhi’s message was the same at the IIT Guwahati - join politics to push India forward.