Rahul Gandhi: Will transform Congress party in ways you cannot imagine

NEW DELHI: Emphasising the need to change the way his party functions, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that he will work with leaders to transform the organisation.

"Congress party has the ability to stand up to the expectations of the people. I am going to put all my efforts to transform the organisation of the party," he said. "I am going to make sure that a transformation happens, and I will do it in ways in which you cannot even imagine. We will involve people (in the party) in a way you cannot even imagine right now," he reiterated.

Talking about Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) debut in Delhi elections, Gandhi said, "I think AAP has involved a lot of people, which the traditional parties did not. Both the major parties are thinking about politics in a traditional way in Delhi. Congress needs to change that."

Asked about his take on Narendra Modi, Gandhi said, "Mr Modi is the leader of BJP. Congress has a vision of the country, BJP has another perspective. Congress will try to make sure that its perspective reaches people."

"Congress believes in working for the people. What we need do as a party is to move ahead of just talking about good governance," he said. Gandhi went on to congratulate his opponents for their victory.

Addressing the media, Rahul Gandhi shielded Sheila Dikshit, despite her defeat, saying, "Sheila ji has done good governance."

Accepting the people's verdict with humility, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said the state poll results call for deep introspection and the party would study "the many reasons for this defeat".

Sonia said, "We are very disappointed over the results. We congratulate our opponents for victory. We will introspect and take all necessary action to rectify."

"This result calls for deep introspection," she said. "We have to understand to look at the many reasons for this defeat. We have to look into the way we did not take our message to the people.