Andhracafe.com- New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Young MP Rahul Gandhi, elevated to the post of general secretary in the Congress, will provide the party a facelift, signalling that the face of youth will be the driving engine of the party, a senior party leader said Wednesday.

M. Veerappa Moily, the new chairman of the party's media committee, in his first briefing said that Rahul Gandhi will rejuvenate the Youth Congress and the party's student wing, the National Students Union of India (NSUI).

Rahul Gandhi, the son of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, was promoted to the post as part of a major organisational reshuffle Monday that also elevated a number of young, first-time parliamentarians.

Moily said the youth are expected to provide the energy the party requires.

'In next 10 to 15 years, 75 percent of India's population will be youth. The country can either derive demographic dividends or face disaster. Under Rahul's leadership, demographic dividends can be derived,' said Moily.

His colleague in the media committee Jayanthi Natarajan claimed, 'The nation cannot forget the determined and dynamic leadership of (late prime minister and Rahul's father) Rajiv Gandhi, which galvanised India with a technical revolution and took the country into the 21st century as a technical superpower.

'I am suggesting, rather asserting, that Rahul Gandhi will be at the forefront of galvanising youth power.'

She said Rahul Gandhi will act as a catalyst for giving a direction to the aspirations of the youth and help it become a force in the political arena.

When reminded that the Congress campaign under Rahul Gandhi during the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections this year proved to be a disaster for the party, Natarajan responded that his performance cannot be confined to one state.

When pointed that along with the Congress, there has been a 'son rise' in the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too - its president Rajnath Singh's son has been made president of the Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha - Natarajan said: 'The two cannot be compared. Rahul is a democratically elected member of parliament from Amethi, and has not been inducted into the party as a Yuva Morcha president.'