Former Congress General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday said that his party needed to do a bit of introspection, PTI reported. The Congress leader was reacting to party colleague and senior leader Salman Khurshid’s remark that there was a “leadership vacuum” in the party.
“I don’t comment on others’ statement, but it is true that the Congress needs introspection,” Scindia said. “The party’s situation should be assessed and improved, and this is the need of the hour.” He, however, asserted that the Congress would perform well in the Maharashtra Assembly elections scheduled to be held later this month.
Khurshid on Tuesday had said the party’s biggest problem was that its former President Rahul Gandhi had walked away after the massive defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, in which it secured only 52 out of 542 Parliamentary seats. Khurshid also said that the Congress was facing attrition because it took too long to come to terms with its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
A day later, he clarified that he would not leave the party despite its current situation. The former Union minister said the party needed to figure out why it is in such a vulnerable position.
Scindia said that was nothing wrong in saying that the party required introspection. “Not only introspection, but take some correctives also,” he told The Indian Express.
The party’s senior leader M Veerappa Moily claimed that former Congress President Rahul Gandhi wanted a break so he has gone “for some meditation” and “may come for the elections”. He said that Gandhi was not turning away from active politics and only wanted a change in the leadership. .
He also refuted Khurshid’s claim that Rahul had left a vaccum in the leadership. Moily said that speculation of Gandhi deserting the Congress were “an overestimation”, adding that the crisis will be managed.
Gandhi resigned as Congress president on July 3, over a month after the Lok Sabha election results were announced earlier this year. Following this, Sonia Gandhi took over as interim party president on August 10.
Since the General Elections, several leaders have left the party or have come out in the public against senior leaders. Former Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar resigned last week and alleged that those who had worked against the party’s interests in the last five years were given preference in ticket distribution.
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