Congress directionless,only seen Rahul Gandhis cameos: Salman Khurshid

Scattered situation: Says governance,politics have intermingled in UPA II; all reforms hit

Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid has remarked the root of the problems plaguing the Congress was the lack of ideological direction from its next generation leader Rahul Gandhi. Until now, he said,we have only seen cameos of his thought and ideas like democratising elections to the Youth Congress. But he has not weaved all of this into a grand announcement. This is a period of waiting.

In a candid assessment of the chaos and inaction plaguing the Congress,Khurshid told The Indian Express: We need a new ideology to meet contemporary challenges. Reforms in the 1990s were the emergence of a new ideology. But today we need an ideology to be given by our next generation leader Rahul Gandhi to move forward. We have to be clear about what we want to go ahead with in the next elections.

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Until that happens,said the minister,it will be a waiting time for the party and government.

Watch Video: Only seen Rahul’s cameos: Khurshid

A senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh,Khurshid also conceded that while Rahul was still reluctant to take charge,the Congress had no choice but to wait for him to make up his mind.

The fact is that he is undoubtedly and unquestionably the number two leader in the party. Yet he has not taken up the mantle or accepted a functional responsibility. He is so far not willing to accept the number two position. In such a situation,we have to wait. This is a waiting time, Khurshid said.

However,he added that this should not stop the party from addressing certain political management issues. According to him,the clear distinction between governance and politics in the UPA I government no longer existed in the present regime,even though the personalities involved were largely the same.

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In UPA II,governance and politics have all got intermingled. The political props have got mixed up. Its a scattered situation.

The stage has to be set up again and only the Congress president can do it. She is the one who has the stature. The Prime Minister can then run the government,but he cannot set the stage, he said.

Khurshid went on to elaborate that he does not mean a Cabinet reshuffle or expansion when he talks about resetting the stage. The problem with mixed-up props is that you know the lines but you suddenly realise that things around you are not the same. And we have also not had the time because events are forcing the pace,they are leading us.

When asked about the countrys falling economic image,the Law Minister said: Its not only economic reforms that have slowed down. Even political and administrative reforms have not happened because of this situation.

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Khurshid incidentally had written to Sonia Gandhi offering to quit the government and work for the Congress organisation after the drubbing received by the party in the UP elections. However,he had not got a response from the Congress president.

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