President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee G. Parameshwara has said that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s election campaigns in Amethi and Rae Bareli were consistent with the decision of her family, not that of the Congress.
Ms. Vadra has been a crowd-puller, thanks to her charisma as an articulate and knowledgeable person. It has in no way belittled the prestige or image of Congress vice-president and her brother, Rahul Gandhi, Dr. Parameshwara, told The Hindu here on Sunday.
Mr. Gandhi was only the second vice-president to be chosen by the Congress Working Committee in the history of the party, he said.
Defending Ms. Vadra for coming out boldly against those criticising her husband, Robert Vadra, over an alleged scam, Dr. Parameshwara said, “She has told the truth”. She was bold enough to state that if her husband was guilty, the law could take its own course. “Ms. Vadra’s statements were mature, balanced and are the need of the hour,” he said.
He said Ms. Vadra was being looked upon by young women in the country as a political youth icon and a future leader.
When asked whether he saw a greater role for Ms. Vadra in the party in future, Dr. Parameshwara said the decision would have to come from her family first and then the party.
Dr. Parameshwara endorsed Mr. Gandhi’s statement that the Congress would not support the third alternative if the party lost badly in the Lok Sabha elections.
He was of the firm opinion that the Congress would be in a position to form the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for the third term. “It is still a possibility.”
Dr. Parameshwara brushed aside the view that scams under the UPA-II had dented the Congress image. Some of the scams were not explained to the people in the right context. Many of them were due to “individual mistakes’’ and the Centre had cracked down against those individuals, he said.
However, he said, “Our marketing efforts to clear the confusions failed.” How could India become the third largest economy in the world if the UPA II had failed to steer the country forward through its progressive policies, he sought to know.
On Modi“I do not think Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister,” Dr. Parameshwara said replying to a question. If he became the Prime Minister, he would have to change completely by shunning ulterior motives and adopting an inclusive policy. He (Mr. Modi) would have to agree to lot of compromises, both at the national and the international level, especially while dealing with the neighbouring countries. “He cannot treat any caste or religion in isolation,” he said. He, however, had his own doubts that Mr. Modi would change to become truly secular.
