'I may be a bachcha, but so are most Indians'

Amritsar: In a polite riposte to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief, Rajnath Singh, who had called him a "bachcha" [child], Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he should keep in mind that 70 per cent of people in the country were young like him.

"Yes, I am still a bachcha for a senior leader like Rajnath Singh. I really respect him and agree with whatever he says as I do not have even half the experience he has," Gandhi told a news conference here.

He was in Amritsar along with the former chief election commissioner, J.M. Lyngdoh, to review preparations for the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) elections in Punjab.

"Compared to the likes of Rajnath Singh and others, I am still a bachcha. I am a much younger person. I think in a completely different way than how they think. They think politically."

Rajnath Singh had dubbed Gandhi a bachcha when he was asked by Shekhar Gupta, in his Walk The Talk programme on NDTV, on what he thought of the Congress MP and his politics.

"However, fortunately or unfortunately for him [Rajnath Singh], 70 per cent people of India, who are powering the country, are also bachchas," Gandhi said sarcastically.

Punjab is the first state where IYC elections are being held in a new democratic manner.

The move has been initiated by Gandhi, who wants to replicate the same in other states to give greater representation to grassroots workers of the Congress party.