Chorus gets louder for Rahul to become AICC president
Monday, 06/06/2016
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New Delhi: “Rahul Gandhi is de facto Congress chief but he should become de jure” and make the party battle ready without waiting for anti-incumbency to build up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday.
Ramesh also said it was high time that the Congress changed in tune with changing India as “our communication strategy is not very effective” and “we need an aggressive outreach” with various sections of society against the backdrop of successive poll debacles. Ramesh’s strong pitch for Rahul’s elevation has come at a time when opinion appears to be divided in the organisation on the timing of his taking over.
Punjab PCC chief Amarinder Singh had made a pitch for Rahul’s elevation saying that Sonia is now approaching 70 and her deputy can get into her shoes if she was feeling tired. Senior leader Ambika Soni, however, said Sonia was working tirelessly and should continue, a view shared by another party leader Kamal Nath.
“Challenges are very heavy but there is no room for despondency. Those who are writing off Congress party are writing its premature obituary,” the former Union Minister said, apparently referring to Modi’s repeated calls for a “Congress-mukt Bharat”.
Making a strong pitch for Gandhi’s leadership, Ramesh said “uncertainty does not help”. He said the challenges faced by Congress were akin to those that prevailed when Sonia Gandhi had taken over the party in March 1998.
Ramesh insisted that the Congress vice president has “a lot of ideas on organisational restructuring and I hope he gets into position very soon. He is de facto, but he should become de jure”.
‘He has skills to restore Cong to power’
New Delhi: Congress needs ‘fresh ideas’ and a ‘generational change’ and vice president Rahul Gandhi has the required skills to steer the party back to power after facing setbacks in state elections since the 2014 Lok Sabha drubbing, party general secretary Digvijay Singh said on Sunday.
“Congress has always promoted young people in the party from the very beginning. The country’s demographic profile has changed. India is a much younger country now. Therefore we need fresh ideas, fresh leadership and new way of the Congress functioning,” Singh told India Today.
