Live: Lost touch with of the state, admit Rahul at Delhi rally

New Delhi: Attributing Congress' poor show in Delhi Assembly polls to losing touch with common people, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said the party has deeply understood this and promised to include people from the grass-root in the party after Lok Sabha polls. Speaking at a gathering of around 15,000 people in Ambedkar Nagar here in South Delhi, Rahul said, “For the last 15 years there was a Congress government in Delhi. Lot of developmental work was done... but even after that Congress lost in the Assembly polls.“Residents of Delhi gave a message to Congress that do developmental work, but the old relationship with people where doors of Congress were remained opened should not be closed.” It was the same venue where Rahul had addressed an election rally during Assembly polls in Delhi where thin attendance of people had made news. The party leaders were cautious this time not to allow such a scenario to repeat. Last time when Rahul had begun to speak the crowd had started dispersing, an incident which had invited ridicule and sarcasms from the opposition parties as the then Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who was sharing the dais with Rahul, was recorded on camera asking people not to leave the ground. While promising to include common man in the party, Rahul said, “If those doors are not opened, Congress will face troubles. You told us this thing. I want to tell people that we have deeply understood this.”“After election we will bring about changes in party structure in Delhi. We will make party a party of common man and poor. We will include the common people in the new structure. We made a mistake and people of Delhi suffered due to this,” he added.Launching a scathing attack on AAP-led Delhi government, Rahul said the party made lofty promises to people, but later “ran away”, leaving people of Delhi in a lurch.“It is easy to make false promises. They (AAP) gave budget for electricity subsidy for only three months, but there are 12 months in a year, five years in a term. “Budgets are not given for three months but for a year. The truth is that the people who were running the government have now run away. Some are seen in Varanasi, some in other places,” the Congress Vice President said. Justifying the Congress' decision to support AAP, Rahul said, “The opposition party came into power and we supported it. We thought they are the voice of people. They were new people and people had given call to them so we thought that our party should support them.”“They made many lofty promises about electricity, water and regularisation. But did they fulfil their promises? Did they regularise contractual workers, safai karamcharis? Workers had sat on dharna, but AAP leaders did not meet them.” he added.Around 15,000 people had gathered in the south Delhi locality to listen to the Rahul's rally. As the enclosure was not big enough to accommodate the entire crowd, many remained on roadsides to listen to the speech.Looking at the scenario, Rahul, in a lighter vain, pointed toward Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh and said,”the ground is small Arvinder ji.”After the rally ended, he waived to the crowd from top of his car.Exuding confidence of a good performance in Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, the Delhi Congress chief said,”If gathering at a rally is a proof of voter's mood, we know how some people cancel rally after declaring the date. This crowd has given a message that they are with Congress. Congress has always supported common people's cause.”He further said, “People of Delhi has seen 15 years of Congress rule of development and also seen 49 days of “anarchist” rule where the government made false promises. They have also seen eight years of “corrupt” BJP-led MCD rule. “The party, which has failed in removing corruption from a small organisation like MCD, is talking about removing corruption from the country.”Earlier, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today took potshot at Narendra Modi for raking up the issue of corruption in election speeches despite the fact that he hugs Yeddyurappa on the dais.Addressing an election rally in Sirsa of Haryana, Rahul Gandhi said, “They talk about corruption. Yeddyurappa, who went to jail on charges of corruption, is called upon the stage by BJP leaders and they hug him. Still they talk about corruption.”Rahul promised to the people that if the Congress party forms government at the centre then it will provide them with concrete houses and free medical service.“I visited so many places, interacted with a cross section of society to understand what they all wanted to be incorporated in our manifesto. One demand that they raised was about a concrete home. Similarly, there was a demand for free medical treatment. I want to assure you that we'll provide you with Right to home and Right to free medical treatment,” added rahul.Rahul also reminded people that Haryana doesn't need ‘Gujarat Model' because every state has its own model.“We got the bill on land acquisition passed in parliament despite stiff opposition from BJP. We run government after taking into account your opinion. They talk about Haryana Model and all but every state in India has its own model. Haryana does not need Gujarat Model,” said Rahul.Here are the live updates of Rahul Gandhi's rally:3:00pm– Rahul concludes his speech2:55pm- Rahul: Who gave you the Right to Information (RTI)? Who got the Lokpal Bill passed? They create divisions among people on religious lines. They have partners in Maharashtra who are so against people from North India. 2:50pm- Rahul: They talk about corruption. Yeddyurappa, who went to jail on charges of corruption, is called upon the stage by BJP leaders and they hug him. Still they talk about corruption. 2:42pm- Rahul: We got the bill on land acquisition passed in parliament despite stiff opposition from BJP. We run government after taking into account your opinion. They talk about Haryana Model and all but every state in India has its own model. Haryana does not need Gujarat Model. 2:38pm- Rahul: We have created a corridor for manufacturing. This will benefit crores of youth. They'll learn to manufacture electronic items like watches and all.2:34pm- Rahul: I visited so many places, interacted with a cross section of society to understand what they all wanted to be incorporated in our manifesto. One demand that they raised was about a concrete home. Similarly, there was a demand for free medical treatment. I want to assure you that we'll provide you with Right to home and Right to free medical treatment. 2:30pm- Rahul: The balloons of NDA were deflated in 2004 and 2009. Earlier they used to fill up these balloons with air but now they are pumping gas in these balloons. But this time too, their balloons will burst. 2:25pm– Rahul Gandhi begins his speech