Rahul Gandhi calls for tough action against the corrupt

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed shock over the killing of Malegaon-based additional district collector of Nashik earlier this week by the oil mafia and called for the launch of a tough campaign against corruption.

Gandhi told reporters at Aurangabad in Maharashtra on Saturday that gruesome incidents such as the burning of Yashwant Sonawane, the additional district collector, should not occur again. Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who was also present, noted that his government had already launched a campaign against the oil mafia.

The son of Congress president Sonia Gandhi is currently on a three-day visit to Maharashtra. Rahul, who is being projected as a future top leader by his party, has been urging the youth to join his party and bring about major changes in the country's politics.

Calling on the youth to enter politics and to cleanse the system, Rahul said his party had decided to tackle the menace of corruption head-on. Asked about the admission by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government about the stashing of billions of dollars – ranging from $460 billion to $1.4 trillion – in foreign bank accounts by black-marketers, Rahul said the Youth Congress would ensure that the money, if brought back to India, would be deployed for the benefit of the poor.

Bemoaning the lack of inner-party democracy in the country, Rahul said there was need to change the political structure.

He urged the youth to give 10 years of their life to politics. ''I assure you, after 10 years you will be proud of your decision and politics in the country will take a new direction,'' he said.