NEW DELHI - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who opted out of government in order to work to strengthen the party, Thursday said his imprint on the new United Progressive Alliance government’s 79-member council of ministers was in the form of young ministers.

I believe in doing one job and doing it well. I can’t take on six jobs at one time, Rahul Gandhi, 38, told reporters after the second round of oath taking by ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

At least six ministers who are under 40 years have been inducted into Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ministry, including Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada and Arun Yadav.

We have been working silently in Uttar Pradesh and it has taken five years to get here. Both UP and Bihar need fundamental changes, he added.

In an expansive mood, Rahul Gandhi also said the government needed to create something more to give people of Uttar Pradesh hope.

The problem in Uttar Pradesh is more fundamental than Congress having a cabinet minister (from the state),” he said, referring to the discontent voiced in this regard. “You will see our work in the next three years.

Both Bihar and UP are lagging behind. The real success is when they go back on the road, he added.

He was also quick to say that the Congress had not been arrogant with its allies and they were represented adequately in the council of ministers.

Sticking to principles does not mean that we are arrogant, Rahul Gandhi said, trying to explain what contributed to the delay in the second round of government formation.

In the second round of swearing-in, 14 cabinet ministers and 45 ministers of state took oath at Rashtrapati Bhavan, taking to 79 the council of ministers of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) second term in office.