Salman Khurshid also said these issues should be discussed within the party (File)
New Delhi:
Amid calls from Congress to hold ballots for the presidency, top leader Salman Khurshid said on Sunday the party should give consensus a chance instead of divisive elections.
Mr. Khurshid also said that Rahul Gandhi enjoys the “full support” and “approval” of party leaders and workers, regardless of whether or not he wears the label of president.
“I made it very clear that the Gandhi are the leaders of Congress. No one can deny it, not even the opposition can deny it. I’m happy enough to have a leader, I don’t care to know whether or not we have a president, we have a leader (to Rahul Gandhi) and that’s comforting to me, ”the former Union Minister told PTI in an interview.
His remarks are of significance as they come just before the meeting of the Congressional Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, which will likely deliberate on the issue of leadership that is in the spotlight with Sonia Gandhi completing one year as an interim. chief.
In addition, 23 Congress leaders, including some former ministers, wrote to party chair Sonia Gandhi for the overhaul of the organizational structure.
Asked about the party leaders’ section calling for CWC and presidential elections, Mr Khurshid slammed those calling for internal polls, explaining why people are so anxious to make these demands in Congress when they don’t are not made in any other party.
“I am very surprised. I have not heard any demand made within the Communist Party, regional parties or the BJP. I have not heard of the demand for elections in any of these parties,” Mr. Khurshid.
“Elections are important, but the historical context in which the elections are to take place, the circumstances, must be taken into account. Consensus has been an important part of the political process in Congress,” he said.
Giving up on consensus and going for elections, without thinking about the implications and consequences, could run into “uncharted and uncharted territory,” he said.
Mr. Khurshid also said that these issues should be discussed within the party and not outside.
His comments come days after Shashi Tharoor said he advocated elections for the CWC and for the post of president as it would certainly have a number of beneficial results for the party.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit also recently said it was “high time” for Congress to appoint a full-time president by “selection or election”.
Asked if consensus was the way to go rather than internal polls, Mr Khurshid said: “My gut says this. My understanding of Congress says consensus is extremely important.”
“People react to that by saying that you are undemocratic. I don’t know if consensus is somehow undemocratic thing. It should be genuine consensus. Of course, it shouldn’t be forced consensus. I think that we should give consensus a chance, ”he said.
On whether the polls can lead to divisions within the party, Khurshid said the elections are dividing.
Elections, in the right spirit, should not divide, but the reality on the ground is that elections do divide, he said.
“So, let’s just hope that we gradually get to a point where the elections are not divided,” he said.
When asked if Rahul Gandhi should return as party leader, Mr Khurshid said it was up to him to make his decision and the leaders should allow him to take an appeal.
“When you give someone your allegiance as a leader, you have to listen to the leader and whatever the leader wants to do. A lot of people think he shouldn’t stay away from the presidency of the gone, ”he told me.
Noting that Gandhi has his own reasons for staying away from the presidency, Mr Khurshid said party leaders should respect his decision and not in any way create a situation that becomes difficult for him.
“Let’s wait until he takes a call, I think he understands the expectations and hopes of the people and I think he will meet those hopes,” he said.
Asked about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s remarks contained in a book endorsing Rahul Gandhi’s views that the party should have a non-Gandhi president and whether that person would be under pressure from the Gandhi, Mr. Khurshid said where is the issue of pressure such that it “may be a president who is not Gandhi, but there will also be a leader who is a Gandhi”.
“Even the president will have to accept ‘the leader’ Gandhi. You cannot choose a leader who is already chosen. The people have given their full support and approved Mr. Rahul Gandhi and it will remain a fact,” he said. he says.
“Whether he (Rahul) wears the label of a president or he does not wear the label of a president, he remains a leader,” Khurshid said.
If Rahul Gandhi is a leader, surely he should be respected for his views on the presidential structure or organizational structure going forward, he said.
Mr. Khurshid said that if Rahul Gandhi is the leader and gives respect to a president, everyone will respect him, he said.
The party should not complain about the leadership issue and that will be resolved, Khurshid said.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
