New Delhi, Oct 5 : Highlighting the difficulties faced by young and enterprising individuals keen on entering the Indian political system, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has stressed that Congress was the only political party that had taken steps to infuse new talent into its pool.

New Delhi/ Narayanpatna (Orissa), Sep 29 : On the day when Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was distributing three-wheeler scooters to the specially-abled persons in New Delhi, in far way Orissa, Maoists dismembered the throat of a polio-stricken Dalit villager in the tribal dominated Narayanpatna area of Koratput District.

Raipur, Sep 6 : US President Barack Obama, President Pratibha Patil, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul... amongst the several leaders whose photographs were found in a deserted Maoist camp in Chhattisgarh, police officials said Tuesday.

The photographs, also including those of Chief Minister Raman Singh and some ministers, were found pasted at a camp in a jungle area in Raipur district that was deserted by Maoists after a fierce 15-minute gun battle, officials at the police headquarters told IANS.

New Delhi, Aug 26 : He waited before breaking his silence on the Lokpal bill because he "likes to think" before speaking, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said Friday, day 11 of Anna Hazare's fast for a strong anti-corruption law.

Gandhi made a surprise address to the Lok Sabha, calling for fortifying the Lokpal bill by making it a constitutional body like the Election Commission.

New Delhi, Aug 26 : Text of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha Friday on the issue of corruption:

Madam Speaker,

New Delhi, Aug 26 : Raising doubts over whether a single law would be enough to eradicate corruption in the country, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that having a Lokpal would not be enough to root out corruption entirely.

New Delhi, Aug 26: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the latter''s 7 Race Course Residence here today.

The two reportedly discussed social activist Anna Hazare''s draft debate in Parliament, Times Now reports.

On Thursday, Hazare placed three conditions before the government, which is inclusion of lower bureaucracy in the Lokpal bill, appointment of Lokayuktas in all states, and implementation of citizen''''s charter in government offices.

New Delhi, Aug 25 : Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said Thursday he was concerned over the logjam in the wake of Anna Hazare's fast for a stronger Lokpal bill.

"Of course I am concerned," Gandhi said in reply to a question.

He was speaking to reporters at parliament house here after the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, which was addressed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The External Affairs Minister Mr. Shashi Tharoor may be in news for all wrong reasons, but he has managed to get an appreciation from the AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

When the entire Congress working committee has stood against Tharoor, Rahul Gandhi seems to be standing with the Thiruvananthapuram MP. He has said that Mr. Tharoor is still a possible asset for the party as well as for the country.

New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key said on Tuesday that India is a priority relationship. He was welcoming Rahul Gandhi, great-grandson of his country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal

Nehru.

Gandhi is visiting New Zealand as the inaugural Sir Edmund Hillary Fellow, a fund set up to recognize the special contribution the conqueror of Mount Everest made to relations between the

two countries and Nepal.

Key further added that the aim of the fellowship is to build a constituency for New Zealand among the emerging leaders of India and Nepal.

New Delhi, Feb 6 - Actress-activist Shabana Azmi is all praise for Rahul Gandhi and he "cocked a snook" at the Shiv Sena with his Mumbai trip Friday. And she feels the Sena is trying to boost its "sagging political career" by intimidating the makers of Shah Rukh-starrer "My Name Is Khan".

"More power to Rahul Gandhi for cocking a snook at the Shiv Sena in its own den in Mumbai by taking the local train from Dadar, which is considered the bastion of the Shiv Sena," Shabana told IANS through email.

New Delhi, Jan 26 - Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has praised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for their progressive attitudes towards improving the health indicators in India.

"When I travelled to India... on the trip I got to talk to Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, one of the poorest states in India, and hear about some great work he is doing to improve vaccination rates. The (Bill and Melinda Gates) Foundation is considering funding measurement systems to help improve these programmes," Gates wrote in his annual letter on healthcare systems in the world.

Patna, Jan 5 - Hoping to revive the Congress in Bihar, general secretary Rahul Gandhi will next week launch a month-long membership drive to attract the youth in the state to the party.

Gandhi, who has been criss-crossing the country to strengthen the youth wings of the party, the Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India, will launch the membership drive with 40 young party MPs and central ministers on Jan 12.

New Delhi, Dec 28 : The Congress launched its year-long 125th anniversary celebrations here Monday, and the theme was 'Building the Future on the Foundation of the Past', but the party's youth icon and future leader Rahul Gandhi was not present, surprising many.

The function of the country's oldest political party was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and other leaders of the Congress Working Committee.

Asked about the reason for party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's absence, a Congress leader said he was on a "pre-scheduled visit" to central India and was busy in party work.

New Delhi, Dec 25 : As the party's youth icon and potential prime minister, Rahul Gandhi brought the most unexpected cheer to the Congress in 2009.

His success as the party's key strategist in the Lok Sabha elections and the oxygen injected by him into the Youth Congress have given hope and a confidence the Congress was lacking.

The 39-year-old son of Congress president Sonia Gandhi was for years a reluctant politician, much like his father who went on to become the prime minister.

Munshiganj/ Jayas/ Jagdishpur (UP), Dec 24 : Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had a busy schedule on the second and last day of his visit to his parliamentary constituency Amethi on Wednesday.

He attended a camp at an eye hospital in Munshiganj area of his constituency.

Gandhi also interacted with women groups of the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in the Jayas area. He even did not disappoint people who came to meet him without schedule. In the Jagdishpur area, Gandhi visited a close aide of his family.

Jhansi, Dec 22 : After a prolonged interaction with women self-help groups here Monday, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi drove down to the nearby cantonment on a chilly Tuesday morning.

While no one was allowed to accompany him during the cantonment visit, sources said it was the firing range for tanks that generated interest in him.

He was stated to have spent about an hour at the firing range before he flew off to Amethi, his parliamentary constituency.

Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 21 - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is likely to spend yet another night in a Dalit's home in Jhansi district, party sources said Monday.

The Congress MP, who is scheduled to arrive here later Monday by a chartered plane, will go straight to Ghisauli village, barely 10 km from this city in the backward Bundelkhand region, the sources said.

He is to attend a programme organised by a local NGO engaged in welfare and economic upliftment of Dalits in the area.

Ranchi, Dec 9 - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi understands the limitations of a pilot and did not violate any rules, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Wednesday in response to allegations that the youth leader had forced a helicopter pilot to land in zero visibility in Uttar Pradesh.

"Allegations of violation of landing rules of Rahul Gandhi's helicopter are baseless. Rahul Gandhi himself knows flying and understands the limitations," Mukherjee said at a press conference here.

Lucknow, Dec. 8 : Activists of Samajwadi party on Tuesday protested the two-day visit of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to Uttar Pradesh.

The activists termed Rahul''s visit to the region as a mere show-off and said that he might be shinning in the boards and hoardings but not in the hearts of poor people.