Rahul Gandhi pays surprise visit to Punjab

Chandigarh, April 19 (IANS) Paying a surprise visit to Punjab, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Friday expressed his desire to correct the system within the party, saying the problems of grassroots level workers did not reach its top officials due to a communication gap.

Reaching Khanna town in Ludhiana district Friday morning, Gandhi held a closed-door meeting with party leaders and activists. Instead of addressing them from the dais, he kept moving from one table to another to listen to them.

"I am available to you at any point of time. Your problems don't reach us. I want that the party should be aware of problems of partymen at grassroots level. Congress is like a family. We need to respect each other," he said, according to party leaders.

On the defeat in Punjab assembly polls, Gandhi said: "It is not the sole responsibility of the party chief. All party workers should understand their responsibility and all of them are answerable."