New Delhi: Amid reports of the Congress working towards transferring power to Rahul Gandhi once again, former Union minister and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor has urged the Congress Working Committee to hold “leadership elections” to energise the party cadre.
The outspoken Thiruvananthapuram MP tweeted his views endorsing a news item quoting former MP and Sheila Dikshit's son Sandeep Dikshit. The story quotes Diskhit questioning an extended ennui in the party and conspicuous silence of the top leadership on the unresolved leadership issues in the Congress.
“Most of them, those who are in Rajya Sabha, those who have been former chief ministers, even some of our current CMs who are very senior, I think it is time for them to come up and go the extra mile for their party," Dikshit is reported to have told the Indian Express.
What @SandeepDikshit said openly is what dozens of party leaders from across the country are saying privately, incl many w/ responsible positions in the Party. I renew my appeal toCWC to hold leadership elections to energise workers&inspire voters. https://t.co/cotzJsRZnm — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 20, 2020
Sonia Gandhi was named interim Congress president in August last year, returning to the helm after almost 20 months when Rahul Gandhi tendered his resignation after a humiliating 2019 general election defeat.
As the uncertainty over leadership persisted, several Congress leaders urged Sonia Gandhi to continue as the president, with senior leader Veerappa Moily saying: "In the absence of any other arrangement, particularly when Rahulji is not willing to be active, I think somebody has to take up the responsibility and she would not like the Congress to be left behind without a leader."
The grand old party is currently fighting for survival, especially after its recent drubbing in the Delhi assembly elections where it was reduced to nought.
In what was the clearest sign of a complete meltdown for the Congress, 63 of its 66 candidates in Delhi Assembly seats lost their deposits. The Congress managed just 4.26% of the total votes, in line with the prediction of many pollsters. Since the restoration of the Delhi Assembly, which was dissolved in 1991 when it was turned into a Union Territory, this is the lowest that the party has sunk.
Earlier, voicing concern over the Congress debacle in the Delhi Assembly polls and the crisis it is facing in some states like Bihar and the Uttar Pradesh, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has suggested that the party "ruthlessly" reinvent itself or face the prospect of becoming irrelevant.