"I spoke my mind on the issue, it is amazing to see reactions to it. I am flabbergasted," he said. Rahul, who is on a two-day tour of Gujarat as part of preparations for next year's general elections, admitted factionalism in Congress was responsible for repeated defeats of the party in Gujarat.
"The problem is not external, it is internal. Certainly there is factionalism in Congress party," Rahul said to a question why his party was repeatedly losing to BJP in the state.
Maintaining that "most democratic institutions of the country are not democratic in nature," he said adding the future of the nation was being decided by a handful of people.
"The population of India is 1.2 billion. However, there is centralisation of power here. Only about 1,000 people decide who will go to the Vidhan Sabhas and Lok Sabha who in turn decide the future of this country," Rahul said.