UPA has changed development paradigm says Rahul Gandhi

The decision to give freehold rights is expected to provide relief to 1.5 million people in Delhi. It is being seen as a major election sop by the Congress government.

"The way the city has been built, it is due to your blood and sweat. The infrastructure that has been built, it is due to your sweat," he said.

The Congress leader said the country was urbanising at a rapid pace and about 50 percent of the population was projected to be living in cities by the end of the next 20 years.

"It is not a small change. Our country is second (in population). In some years, it will be number one," Rahul Gandhi said.

He said the transition of population from villages to cities was not easy.

"Sometimes people leave their families in villages. They toil hard for their dreams. We want to fulfil that dream. The people who built flyovers, their dreams should be fulfilled," he said.

Making a veiled reference to political sections in Mumbai who targeted migrants in Mumbai, Rahul Gandhi said Delhi welcomed people irrespective of the place they came from.

Lauding the Sheila Dikshit government, he said Delhi had seen the metro rail network, roads and flyovers being built at a rapid pace.

"India knows that if infrastructure has been built, it is in Delhi," he said.