Voices of discomfiture have come to the fore in the Congress over the remarks of senior leader P Chidambaram that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should “speak more” and that even a non-Gandhi family member can be the party President some day.
“Senior leaders should give their advice to Congress leadership in person rather than through media. This shows the leadership in poor light,” former Union Minister and a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee Anil Shastri said on micro-blogging website ‘Twitter’
Another leader, Rashid Alvi, remarked: “Congress party functions according to the Constitution. Members of AICC are eligible and competent to elect the office bearers. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are President and Vice President of the party and they will continue. “According to my knowledge, Sonia Gandhi regularly meets workers of the party and leaders of the party,” he said.
The remarks came two days after Chidambaram said in an interview to a television channel that both Sonia and Rahul should “speak more” and put in action a time-table that would enable the party to play the role of a “true Opposition” at a time when the morale of party cadres was “pretty low“.
He had also said Congress president Sonia Gandhi was “numero uno” in the organisation and that the decision in Jaipur in January 2013 to make Rahul Gandhi vice-president was “perhaps the correct decision.
Asked ïf a non-Gandhi can become the Congress president, Chidambaram had said, “I think so. Some day yes,” but was quick to add, “I do not know” when asked about the timeline for such an eventuality.
Party spokespersons have, so far, refrained from giving any comment on Chidambaram’s remarks.
