Ghulam Nabi Azad said that if congressional leaders get a ticket for the party, “they first book a 5-star hotel.”
New Delhi:
Ghulam Nabi Azad from Congress, one of the party’s main dissidents, today offered another explanation for the party’s recent downfall when it comes to elections. Speaking amid the latest controversy to hit the party, harsh criticism from party colleague Kapil Sibal after the Bihar elections, Azad said leaders who get a ticket now turn their backs on the heat and dust of the campaign, preferring instead stay accommodated. in five star comfort.
“The problem with our leaders is that if they get a party ticket, they first book a five-star hotel. Even there they want a luxurious place. So they won’t get around without an air-conditioned car. They won’t go to places where there’s a road. unpaved, “he told the ANI news agency.
“Elections are not fought from five-star hotels … We cannot win until we change this culture,” he added.
From parachuting from the outside to poor leadership from the top, many things have been cited as the reason for the match’s dismal performance.
“Many blame the leaders. The president of Congress or Rahul Gandhi,” Azad said, pointing instead to local party leaders who are appointed to the highest positions.
“They have lost connection with the people. Block or district leaders. The moment someone gets a rank, they print their notepads and business cards and think the job is done. But that’s where the job begins. work, “he added.
He indicated that senior leadership was not going bad either, saying that under Sonia Gandhi, Congress won five states in four or five years, “when I was in charge of electoral matters.”
“We won in Karnataka, Kerala and we formed an alliance in Tamil Nadu. In Andhra Pradesh, we won in 2004. The party leadership did not interfere with the functioning of the party,” he said.
“In Andhra Pradesh, we had five parliamentary seats which increased to 37 in 2004. The UPA-I government was formed mainly due to the performance of Congress in Andhra Pradesh. In the assembly elections, our seats increased to around 180. In one and … half a year, I visited Delhi only three times. I visited Hyderabad city only twice as most of the programs took place in rural areas. I remained a trade union minister, but still, I worked in rural areas, five-star culture, “he added.
He said that as long as the officials are not elected but appointed, they will not connect with the bases. There should be chosen people, Azad added.
In the interview with The Indian Express, Sibal had pointed out the party’s setbacks in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and said that he had been forced to make his views public because “there has been no dialogue and there appears to be no effort.” for a management dialogue “.
Three key leaders in Congress had voiced criticism of his comments. Among them, Salman Khurshid, a loyalist to the Gandhi family, had said: “I have said very clearly that the Gandhi are leaders of Congress. No one can deny it. I do not care whether or not we have a president.”
.
