Another leader from the country’s oldest party, Jyotiradtiya Scindia on Wednesday urged his party members to introspect and take corrective measures as Congress is struggling to find its footing after the Lok Sabha elections defeat.
With the upcoming Assembly polls Rahul Gandhi’s walking away for a personal trip has left leaders like Salman Khurshid and Jyotiraditya Scindia asking the party to invest more time and effort in the upcoming Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra.
Advertisement
Scindia said this when asked for his reaction to Salman Khurshid’s claims of a “leadership vacuum” in the party. “I don’t comment on statements made by others, but it is true that the Congress is in dire need of introspection. The party’s situation should be assessed and improved, that’s the need of the hour,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
As a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, Scindia is reportedly eyeing the post of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief. However, the party seems to keep him from the position.
In his statement on Tuesday, Khurshid had said that Rahul Gandhi should have continued as the party president instead of giving up after the Lok Sabha elections. “We haven’t really got together to analyse why we were defeated. Our biggest problem is that our leader has walked away,” he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
The veteran politician said that Rahul Gandhi’s decision had left a vacuum that even his mother Sonia Gandhi could not fill. “I wish it wasn’t so,” he added.
On Khurshid’s remarks, party spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters, “Let Salman Khurshid give you the answers. You have got his answers. He said it, and he has also given you the answers… as far as the party is concerned, we are working for the Haryana and Maharashtra elections, working together, working with every possible strength that we can derive from everywhere. People should avoid making side comments and should actually expose this government for its follies, which are aplenty.”