Voices of discontent after latest electoral setback for Congress.
Amid unease in the Congress and demand for a "major surgery" in the wake of assembly poll debacle, a former Union Minister has pitched for sending over a dozen senior leaders, who he accused of "misleading" party chief Sonia Gandhi, on a compulsory holiday.
V Kishore Chandra Deo has warned that if Congress failed to pull up its socks urgently, it would lead to mushrooming of regional parties in several states as "Modi government is out in 2019, if not earlier". Citing the example of Delhi where AAP suddenly sprang up and captured power, he expressed apprehension of the phenomena repeating itself in 15-20 states where there are "no established regional parties at present".
In an interview to PTI, Deo's refrain was that there was a need for action as the party has already done "too much introspection". He was apparently hinting at no changes in the organization for the past two years despite the Congress suffering its worst defeat in the last Lok Sabha polls. He made a strong pitch for sending "15-20 leaders" on a compulsory holiday for a few years. This was necessary as they "play the musical chair" in the organization, either in the AICC or as PCC chiefs, or become Union Ministers if the party is in power, he said.
Deo did not take any names but his obvious target were most of those occupying positions in the AICC Secretariat or those around the party chief and vice president Rahul Gandhi, advising them on various issues. "They are misleading the leadership, even Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. If the leadership gets wrong information, what results you can expect?" he said, adding compulsory holiday should extend to "a few years".
Lamenting the way the organization runs, he said there are norms and guidelines on several things, which are there "only to be violated".
The five-time Lok Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh and Tribal Affairs Minister in the Manmohan Singh government, said what Congress needed was credible faces and a mix of youth and experience. Noting that there was a lot of talent within the party, he said it needs to be tapped by the leadership.
Deo said Devraj Urs and J Vengal Rao were "not known leaders", but Indira Gandhi gave them the opportunity to become Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh respectively. "Till today, they are remembered in their states". On Congress' defeat in Assam, he said age caught up with the outgoing Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who "faltered during the last term".
Soon after the Lok Sabha poll rout, Deo had lashed out at "rootless wonders and spineless creepers" for the Congress' plight, and insisted the party would not have met such a fate if Rahul Gandhi had ensured implementation of half the promises made after he became party's vice president.
He had also suggested that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul should introspect and devise means to "emancipate the Grand Old Party from the clutches of rootless wonders and spineless creepers, who have held sway for more than two decades and have brought the party to such a pass".
Deo recalled Rahul had spoken much about transformation of the organisation at the Jaipur brainstorming session after becoming party vice president in Janruary 2013. After Congress' dismal performance in assembly elections in four states and Union Territory of Puducherry, senior party leader Digvijay Singh had suggested a "major surgery" in the organisation.
"Today's results disappointing but not unexpected. We have done enough Introspection shouldn't we go for a Major Surgery?" Singh, an AICC General Secretary, had said in a tweet.
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