Salman Khurshid’s comments come days after Sibal’s public criticism of congressional leaders (Archive)
New Delhi:
Amid criticism of the upper echelons of Congress from some leaders after a bad show in the Bihar elections, senior leader Salman Khurshid said on Sunday that there is no leadership crisis in the party and full support for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi is “obvious to anyone who is not blind.”
Khurshid, who is among the leaders considered close to the Gandhi family, said there are enough forums in Congress to air views and do so outside the party “it hurts,” comments that come days after leader Kapil Sibal and some others went public with their criticisms of the party leadership.
“The leadership listens to me, I am given a chance, they (those who criticize in the media) have a chance, where is this coming from that the leadership is not listening?” Khurshid told PTI in an interview.
When asked about comments from Sibal and another high-level leader, P Chidambaram, on the poor performance of Congress in the Bihar elections and by-elections, he said that he cannot disagree with what they have said, but asked why someone has to go out and tell the media and the world. that “we have to do this”.
“The analysis is done all the time, there are no disputes about the analysis. It will be done. The leadership, of which all these people are part, will properly analyze what could have gone wrong, how we could have improved and that will happen in the normal course , we don’t need to talk about it in public, “said Mr. Khurshid, a standing guest on the Congressional Working Committee (CWC).
His comments come days after Sibal’s public criticism of the congressional leadership and his declaration that the time for introspection was over and people no longer saw the party as an effective alternative.
When asked about some leaders calling for a full-time president, he said they should come forward and talk about it within the party.
“See our leader and tell him it doesn’t look good without a tag, the leader will take a call,” Khurshid said.
Attacking concerns that Sonia Gandhi has been interim chief for more than a year, he asked who decides that a year is too long to have an interim chief and asserted that if the process of electing a new president is taking time, there must be a good reason for it.
“No one has left, they are all here. The only insistence is on a label, why do you insist on a label? There is no president in the Bahujan Samaj Party, there is no president in the left parties, only general secretaries … Not all parties can follow the same model, “he said.
The party has a president in Sonia Gandhi, although interim, which is not outside the Constitution, is not unreasonable and is not something that the party “cannot survive with,” Khurshid said.
“We are happy, we are working with that. There is no leadership crisis, I say it with great emphasis,” he said.
The electoral committee is working on the election of the president, which is taking time due to COVID, he said, adding that all work and preparations are underway.
When asked if everyone in Congress strongly supports Rahul Gandhi as their leader, Khurshid said: “I think it is evident to anyone who is not blind, that the people fully support the President of Congress, Sonia ji, and Rahul Gandhi. , who is our former president. Everyone supports them. “
“Those who question (the leadership), if they claim to be Democrats, should have some courtesy to include us who do not question (the leadership) and within the party we can decide whether there are more or we are more. All of our objection is that this happen outside of the game, “he said.
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