Oscar Fernandes, Rajya Sabha member and All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary, said on Monday that the party had decided that AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi should take over as AICC president as soon as possible.
Speaking to presspersons on his first visit after winning the Rajaya Sabha elections, Mr. Fernandes said that the decision on this will be taken by AICC president Sonia Gandhi. “Whatever decision Ms. Gandhi takes, we will abide by it,” he said.
On the increasing clamour for Mr. Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Vadra, to join the party and take up the mantle, Mr. Fernandes said that the party workers might have many desires. But it was up to the Gandhi family members and Ms. Gandhi to take a decision on the matter, he said.
Asked if there was no leader other than the members of the Gandhi family who could lead the party, Mr. Fernandes said that the new generation should understand the sacrifices made by the Gandhi family. Both the former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi laid down their lives for the sake of the country. “If you think a little about this, there will be no basis for asking the question,” he said.
Later, speaking at a felicitation function at the Congress Bhavan, Mr. Fernandes thanked the Congress high command, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC president and Home Minister G. Parameshwar and leaders and workers of the party for his victory in the Rajya Sabha elections. Mr. Fernandes recalled that when he first contested as Congress candidate for the Lok Sabha elections in 1980, it was the autorickshaw workers and garage workers, who collected Rs. 250 to pay for his election deposit.
