Invoking Gandhian ideals, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday gave lessons in leadership to the Youth Congress leaders by telling them that they should never lose the trust of the people.
Telling the delegates at the Youth Congress conclave “Buniyaad” to “learn to lead”, Mr Gandhi said: “Today, many political leaders lead by telling people what they want to hear. People who tell others what they want to hear are not called leaders. They are called followers.”
Further elaborating his thoughts on the issue of leadership, Mr Gandhi said: “Test your ideas. Challenge your thoughts. Create mutinies within yourselves and others around you.”
He added that Gandhiji’s method was to create a mutiny within himself and relentlessly challenge everything that he stood for.
“Gandhiji challenged, questioned and refined every idea he ever had. He developed leadership in people around him by encouraging them to do the same,” remarked Mr Gandhi.
In his short speech, Mr Gandhi sounded philosophical as he said: “We come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing. The only thing you will ever have as a political leader is the trust of your people.”
Mr Gandhi spoke after the delegates became restive to hear him even when Mr Nandan Nilekani was telling them about the benefits of the Unique Identification Numbers (UID).
Sensing the mood of the crowd, Mr Nilekani remarked: “I take it as an indication for the next speaker (Mr Gandhi).”
Later speaking to the conclave, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said that after Gandhiji the nation also benefited from the leadership of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.