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Rahul's speech has no mention of 'saffron terror'

December 19, 2010 16:59 IST
Rahul Gandhi's much awaited speech passed off without a single line being mentioned about his remarks on saffron terror or the scams the UPA government has been accused of.

Sidestepping the coruption issue, he said that the Congress president Sonia Gandhi has spoken in detail about it and something needs to be done about it. The only highlight of his speech was his definition of the aam aadmi or common man.'

"The aam aadmi in India is someone who does not have a connection with the system irrespective of his religion, whether he is poor or rich and educated or not. He said it could be a tribal
in Niyamgiri, a Dalit boy in Jharkhand who is made to sit in the last bench, a widow in Vidharbha, a farmer in Aligarh who does not get the right price for his crop, a professional in Bangalore who doesn't get admission in a good school and a professor in the North East who does not get a job as he doesn't have the right connections."

However Rahul was clearly the favourite and drew loud applause from the crowd. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who had left the dais returned just in time for Rahul' speech. His mother Sonia Gandhi watched on proudly as her son spoke. She smiled and applauded quite often as Rahul spoke.
Vicky Nanjappa in Bengaluru