Congress veteran Digvijjaya Singh on Saturday said there was no question of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi stepping down, in the wake of the poor showing in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh on Saturday said there was no question of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi stepping down, in the wake of the poor showing in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. "There is no question of Rahul Gandhi stepping down," said Singh in reply to media queries about change in the Congress top leadership. "The Nehru-Gandhi family is the greatest binding factor for the Congress and the leadership has to come to Rahul," he said.
With the BJP surging towards a decisive victory both in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Singh admitted that the Congress party needed to build regional leaders. "I have said this earlier also that we need to build up new leadership in states. We have to take decisive action to build up the party where we do not have strong regional leaders," added Singh. Rahul Gandhi meanwhile tweeted: "I congratulate Shri. Narendra Modi and the BJP on their victory in Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand. To all Congress workers across India: We stand resolute & committed to our values & our belief in an India united in strength & purpose. Our fight continues and will not end till we win the hearts & minds of people."
The Uttar Pradesh election results not only underline Rahul Gandhi's failure, but also that of Priyanka Gandhi who was part of the poll strategy, Union Minister Smriti Irani said. Taking a dig at Rahul over Congress' poor performance in the crucial state polls, Irani said only blaming the AICC vice president "will be an injustice to him". "One has to do justice. This is not only Mr Rahul Gandhi's failure. Ghulam Nabi Azad had very magnanimously claimed that Priyanka is very much part of the strategy.
"I think the sibling (Priyanka) waiting in the wings has equally failed. So to say only Rahul has failed will be injustice to him," she told reporters here. The Union Textile Minister said that she would like to ask the Congress vice president in "Akhilesh style" that "khao ganga maa ki kasam aur batao UP ko kiska saath pasand hai" (Swear in the name of mother Ganga and say whom does Uttar Pradesh like).
Irani had contested against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and lost. On being asked whether she was a contender for the chief minister's post, the BJP leader said there was no need to speculate and that the party's Parliamentary Board will take a decision in this regard.
The party's massive win in the state is a victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government at the Centre, she said.
"In our party merit wins over dynasty. This is one political organisation which has made a humble citizen as the prime minister of the country. This victory is the victory of the Modi government and its policies," Irani added.
The BJP and its allies marched ahead in 305 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh as per trends from all the 403 seats, which showed the SP-Congress coalition leading in 68 places and BSP in only 20.
With inputs from PTI and ANI
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