The Congress cannot at this stage “do without Mrs. Sonia Gandhi”, even though all Congressmen wanted Rahul Gandhi to “be also there”, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said. Saying she has the “fullest faith” in Ms. Gandhi, she added it is her “prerogative” when she passes the baton on to Mr. Gandhi.
Ms. Dikshit’s remarks in an exclusive interview to The Hindu came even as the Grand Old Party is going through a period of churning, following its loss of governments in Assam and Kerala and a call from a host of leaders for swift remedial action, even surgery.
“Frankly, and I say this as much for myself as for others in the party,” Ms. Dikshit said, “We have the fullest faith in Mrs. Gandhi: she brought the Congress up and we had a Prime Minister for two terms, thanks to her vision, her way of handling things… Whether she does it [passes the baton to Rahul Gandhi] now or 20 days later or a month late is her prerogative. And that prerogative has been given by us to her unanimously. So let her take her time.”
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Simultaneously, she stressed, ‘’…one thing is certain: we can’t do without Mrs. Gandhi, no question. And Rahul should also be there. All Congressmen agree to that. How they do that, when they do that, what shape it takes, that’s their prerogative.” To a question on what Mr. Gandhi meant when he says that he is not in politics to win elections, but to change society, Ms. Dikshit said: “At the moment, his priority, probably, is that the current system we have been following needs an overhaul… … to suit the [demands of] modern politics that has emerged…”
On whether she approved of Mr. Gandhi’s saying in December 2013 after the party lost Delhi that the Congress should emulate the Aam Aadmi Party, the former Delhi Chief Minister said, “He may have said it at that time. I told him later, Rahulji, could we have taken on the policies with which Kejriwal came to power? And he said, not at all.”
On Mr. Gandhi’s ability to lead the party, she said: “Most of us feel that given time, he will come out with flying colours. I believe that.”
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Did she think that it was a good time to get back Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar and Jagan Reddy into the Congress? “Well, it depends on the circumstances: they will also respond to their circumstances…Both hands have to reach out.”
Click >here to read the full interview