NEW DELHI: Stating that there was no urgency to have a chosen one Congress President, Senior leader Salman khurshid on Sunday he said he “can’t see the heavens fall” because of the need for a party boss like Sonia Gandhi he was still in command and should be the one to decide on the leadership issue.
Khurshid, a former Union minister and one of the leaders considered close to the Gandhi family, told PTI in an interview that he would not have signed the letter even if the group that wrote to Gandhi approached him seeking an organizational review. urgent, including active and full-time leadership.
In Ghulam Nabi Azad, the most vocal among the 23 letter writers, seeking organizational elections to ensure that Congress does not remain out of power for decades, Khurshid said that the main leader of Jammu and Kashmir had been part of the highest echelons of the party for years. When there have been no such elections and still the party prospered.
He said Azad probably wanted a change now in what the party has been doing over the years and expressed confidence that the leadership will think about what he is saying as he is a high-level leader.
Khurshid said leaders who have written to Sonia Gandhi have always had access to her and could have reached out to her instead of writing to her.
“It is very clear that the important people in this letter belong to the highest levels of our party and therefore Ms Gandhi has indicated that it was better that they could have discussed it within the boundaries of the party,” he said.
Khurshid’s comments take on importance, coming days after the ‘group of 23’ wrote to Gandhi calling for far-reaching reforms within the party, such as having a “full-time, active and visible” leadership, the return of powers to state units and the modernization of the government. Congressional Working Committee (CWC) in accordance with the party constitution.
When asked about the suggestions made in the letter, Khurshid said the discussion appears to be about choosing a leader and the president of Congress has indicated that it can be done at the appropriate time when physically possible.
“For people like me, we already have leaders, we have a leader in Ms. Sonia Gandhi, we have a leader in Rahul gandhi. So, for me, there is no sense of urgency in choosing leaders. Elect a president, yes, that will happen when it happens, I can’t see the heavens fall. I am not clear about the sense of urgency that is being expressed, ”he said.
“We don’t have a part-time president, we have a full-time president, but the full-time president is an interim president and not an ordinary person as interim president, as she is the president in office with the longest service. Just we must trust and let the president with the longest service take the measures when she sees fit, “said the congressional leader.
On whether it would have been better to go to the president to express his concerns than to write a letter, Khurshid said that leaders had done so for the past 20 years and that he did not know what was different now or had changed that they felt the need to do so. write a letter.
When asked about the future of the knife party within the organization at a time that needs to be revitalized, he said: “The pens are out, so what’s the problem. Of course words written with pens can hurt and they did it”. but they don’t draw blood … it’s just ink, it’s something we can live with and I’m sure the ink will fade in due course. ”
Khurshid said that no one had approached him to sign the letter and even if someone had, they would not have signed it because they do not agree with the letter.
“There is nothing in that letter that gives me the opportunity to express and say what I might want to say … We have always spoken directly with management, so I don’t know what changed why people do not speak directly. Nothing has changed for me and therefore I don’t see the need to write the letter, “he said.
Khurshid said he still feels that instead of the leaders continually urging Rahul Gandhi to return as party head, they should leave the decision to him.
“Surely he understands the implications of that letter more than I do, he will do what he thinks is best to do,” he said, when asked if it was now imperative for Rahul Gandhi to return as party chief to get the house in order.
Following the seven-hour meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body last week, the CWC urged Sonia Gandhi to continue as its acting head until an AICC session could be convened and authorized her to make the organizational changes. necessary to meet the challenges facing the party.
He made it clear that no one would be allowed to undermine or weaken the party and its leadership.
The CWC also ruled that internal party issues cannot be discussed through the media or in public forums and that all such issues must be raised within the party “for the sake of propriety and discipline.”
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