Rahul Gandhi promises change in urban administration if Congress comes to power, says 'we will move to directly-elected mayors'

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday promised changes in the way the city administration is being run today “to improve the quality of life in cities” if voted to power. “To improve the quality of life in our cities, we will move to directly-elected mayors with five-year terms and elected councils,” he said in a tweet. “The administration will be run by multidisciplinary teams of specialists and experts accountable to mayor and the council,” he said. Taking a dig at BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for promising 100 smart cities within five years, he said: “Real smart cities are built by good leaders.” On Sunday Rahul had tweeted: “Today, there are 22 lakh job vacancies in the government sector. We will have these vacancies filled by 31 March, 2020. Devolution of funds from the Centre to each state government for healthcare, education, etc. will be linked to these vacant positions being filled.” The Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be conducted in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May. The results will be announced on 23 May.