In a closed-door interaction with delegates as part of organisation building exercise here, the fourth such meet in Punjab, the Congress Vice President told partymen that he wanted to "correct the system" within the party.
To drive home the message that he was a playing captain, Rahul refrained from addressing the delegates from the dais and instead sat among them and moved from table to table to listen to their grievances.
"I am available to you at any time," he told them.
Referring to the party's defeat in Punjab assembly polls, he said it was not a loss for the party chief, but for partymen working at the lowest level and stressed the need for fixing responsibility of each person within the party.
Power must remain with workers at lower levels, he said.
"If we give enough powers to workers at lower levels only then party policies and programmes will succeed," he said.
"We need to maintain discipline and respect each and every worker," he said in his about 40-minute interaction.
Rahul said, "We will respect and welcome those who join us on idealogical grounds but at the same time the seniority and the respect of the Congress workers will not be ignored."
Each participant was handed over a seven-page booklet on "how to strengthen the Congress party".
To a suggestion by Leader of Opposition Sunil Jakhar, Rahul said the party would soon launch an awareness programme among unemployed youth to register their names in the Employment Exchange so that they could get unemployment dole.
PCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa, Union Ministers Manish Tewari and Preneet Kaur were among those present.