While interacting with youths in Aurangabad Rahul said, "The proportion of youths in politics should increase in the interest of the country's progress. To usher in political reforms, the participation of youths is a necessity. If you have interest in politics then there is no need of role models. You can yourself be the role models. You should make efforts to bring in unity between the rural and urban population," Rahul told the gathering.

More than 1,000 students from different colleges were present during Rahul's address at the CIDCO drama theater. Responding to a question as to what is the solution to the problem of several intelligent and brilliant migrating abroad, Rahul said, "There should not be any cause of concern on this aspect. They too are extending helping hand in the progress and development of the country. Even while residing and working abroad they can work for the country. More than us, it is the foreign countries more worried about the brain drain problem."

There was anger and resentment amongst the male and female students over the tight security arrangement at the function. The police forced women to remove their gold earrings, and married women were asked to remove their gold chains with black beads, which is a mark of their being married as also other gold ornaments. Men were told to remove their trouser belts and even handkerchiefs.

Later, Rahul arrived late evening for interaction and dialogue with selected youths in suburb Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune. The function was out of bounds for the politicians, bureaucrats and the media.

In another related development, senior Shiv Sena leader and former Parliament Speaker Manohar Joshi lashed out at Rahul for the later's statement that Mumbai was saved during the 26/11 terror attack due to the North Indians.

Speaking to journalists in Mumbai on Wednesday, Joshi said that the Rahul’s statement was "improper." Joshi said, "During the Mumbai terror attacks, security personnel from all over the country had battled with the terrorists. But it is wrong and a mistake to say that these security personnel were North Indians or from Bihar."

"The statement of Rahul that the commandos of the National Security Guards (NSG) that fought with the terrorists in Mumbai were from a particular region of the country, is baseless. Rahul should have studied the matter before speaking out on a sensitive issue like that of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Politics should not be played in a incident like 26/11, because all the security and police personnel that fought the terrorists, fought the battle together as one force. And it was this unity that saved Mumbai," Joshi added.