THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: AICC vice-president

Rahul Gandhi

said on Saturday that despite the opposition from various political parties, the

UPA government

would implement the

right to food programme

. “No poor in the country will sleep on a hungry stomach. That is the aim of the scheme,’’ he said

“During my previous visit here, I had been to a panchayat and I had felt that the distance between the poor people and the politicians was widening. Today, the poor and young should be our focus,” he said while addressing a public rally at Central Stadium to mark the culmination of KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala’s Kerala yatra.

Rahul urged everyone to emulate chief minister

Oommen Chandy

who constantly reaches out to the masses through his mass contact programmes.

“Chennithala’s Kerala yatra has also helped the party reach out to the people. Now, the government should focus on settling the grievances expressed by the people during the yatra,” he said.

He urged the state to focus on infrastructure and

higher education

for rapid progress.