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Gandhi Heir Stumps for Poor

Rahul Gandhi sheds aristocratic image to reach out to India's 700m rural poor

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted May 6, 2009 4:24 AM CDT

(Newser) – The heir to India's foremost political dynasty is reaching out to the country's dispossessed as the nation's election enters its final phase, the Guardian reports. Rahul Gandhi—widely seen as the successor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh if their Congress party emerges triumphant—has been greeted by enthusiastic crowds in India's villages as he makes forceful speeches calling for reforms to help the rural poor.

"The fact that the Indian political system tends to be about who you know and who your brother is, that is just a fact of life," Gandhi said. "I want to change that. I consider it an honor and my duty to try to change the system of which I am the result. It is ironic, but that's how it is."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Workers carry a portrait of India's ruling Congress party President Sonia Gandhi, left, and party leader Rahul Gandhi after an election rally in New Delhi yesterday. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi addresses an election rally in Ghaziabad, India, last week. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)

People look on from a rooftop as Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi, unseen, addresses an election rally in Ghaziabad, India, last week. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)

Congress party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi greets supporters at an election rally in Baliguda, in the eatern Indian state of Orissa. (AP Photo)

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I go to the villages where there is nothing, and I see people who are amazing, who put all of us to shame. The real energy of India is in the villages. We need to transfer the growth to that population.
- Rahul Gandhi

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Gandhi Heir Stumps for Poor