Rahul Gandhi says ruling Congress party needs to change

India's Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi Tuesday announced that the ruling Congress party needs to change and the process for this purpose has started. "There is a need to bring change in the party and we will do it fast. The first step in this direction is to make the selection of candidates from among the people," the party's vice president said at a rally in the northeastern state of Assam. "The party has initiated the selection of candidates through primaries in some constituencies of the country with Guwahati being one of them. Soon the process would be extended to more and more constituencies. In future, I want all candidates of the party to be elected through elections." Gandhi also stressed the need for empowering women in the party. "I want to empower women. Here at the rally, I am seeing more men than women but in future, I want to see more or equal women in future. In the next five years, we will strive for 50 percent representation for women in Parliament and all assemblies," he said. The Congress party is likely to face its worst ever defeat in the upcoming general elections due to alleged involvement in financial scams and the government's failure to tackle inflation, according to some opinion polls. Rahul Gandhi, the son of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, has been reportedly at the forefront to change the functioning of the party dominated by politicians aged 60 and above