Kashmir is a full time problem, says Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi held a press conference in Kolkata today where he said that Kashmir is not a part time problem, but a full time one.

Rahul also said he would have to go deep into the Kashmir problem before commenting on whether the Armed Forces Special Powers Act should remain there or not.

He said his focus is the Youth Congress and that he gets involved with Kashmir, he would have to give up the Youth Congress.

The Congress general secretary also said "Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is a youngster and Kashmir is a difficult place. Omar is doing a tough job. The Congress is supporting Omar. He is an elected
leader of National Conference."

Gandhi said it was necessary to involve the Kashmiri youth in the political system. He said, "I will go to Jammu and Kashmir as my drive is to go
to any part of India to bring youth of Kashmir into political system. It's a full time responsibility to bring youngsters in politics."

Continuing his attack on the Left Front government in West Bengal, the Congress general secretary said Chinese leaders were astounded by what
the Left Front is doing in West Bengal and that the Left Front is led by a failed ideology.

"We will fight the Left Front together with Mamata Banerjee. Left Front is the single biggest problem in West Bengal. If we have partnership, it should be a partnership of respect," the Gandhi family scion also said.

He touched upon the issue of Naxalism, calling it a result of complex set of circumstances like poverty and lack of connectivity, but stating that he condemned murder, which according to him is an act of criminals.

He also spoke about the Vedanta issue and said, "What was going on in Niyamgiri (Vedanta project in Orissa) was not corporate versus tribals. The real issue was it was illegal. It was criminal."