We should start respecting the common man: Rahul

NEW DELHI - Asserting that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had established a relationship between growth and distribution of opportunity, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Sunday said that it was important to build a system in which a common man progressed not on “who he knows but on what he knows.”

Participating in the discussion on the political resolution at 83rd Congress plenary being held here, Gandhi said the countrys strength lay in unlocking potential of each individual.

I am a young politician and I have a lot to learn. But there is one thing I am certain of. We will never build a nation until we start recognising and respecting the common man. We will never build a nation until we build a system in which this mans progress is based not on who he knows but on what he knows. This is the challenge of our generation, Gandhi said.

He said the common man had immense capabilities, intelligence and strength.

He (the common man) builds the country every day of his life and yet our system crushes him at every step, Gandhi said.

Complimenting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi for establishing a relationship between growth and distribution of opportunity, Gandhi said that connecting people with opportunity is our political imperative.