No matter whoever becomes the Congress president, Rahul Gandhi will remain the favourite whipping boy for everyone, therefore, it would be better for him to take the reins himself, Chhattisgarh Health Minister and senior party leader T S Singh Deo said on September 2, 2022.
Speaking to The Hindu about the ongoing organisational elections, Mr. Deo said, that the present arrangement of leadership vacuum cannot continue. “I believe that Sonia Gandhi must continue, but if her health does not permit, then the party should ensure that the current situation does not continue. There should be one clear point of authority. One individual, male or female, who will be the President of the party. There shouldn’t be multiple power centres. That can not be healthy for the Congress,” Mr. Deo said.
On July 16 Mr. Deo, relinquished his portfolio of Panchayat and Rural Development attacking his own government of not building eight lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and blaming the government for undermining his position as Minister. Senior party leaders K C Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik and Randeep Surjewala had met Mr. Deo in Delhi to hear out his grievances. Last year August he had staked a claim to the Chief Minister’s post, reportedly on the strength of a promise made by then Congress president Rahul Gandhi. But more than a year later, the power struggle continues.
“As far as Rahul ji is concerned, he has been greatly disadvantage. He has never completely had a free-hand but inspite of that he had to bear brickbats for every defeat that the party has had. When the Congress won elections in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan the credit did not go on him. But if anything goes wrong, he is blamed,” he added.
Mr. Deo, said, that in the backdrop of this, no matter who becomes the Congress president, the blame will still be thrown at Mr. Gandhi’s door and therefore, he alone should take on the mantle. The narrative of ‘any-one but the Gandhis” is a BJP construct, Mr. Deo said, because, the BJP knows well that the Gandhi family can keep the party intact.
Overall, while, the elections are a good thing and should regularly happen, Mr. Deo said, the party’s internal polls are distinct from general elections where each eligible voter has a say. The party’s President he said, should be chosen by collective consensus otherwise the party will split asunder. He also rejected the ongoing debate on electoral roll ignited by senior leader Anand Sharma’s comment in Congress Working Committee meeting where he said that the list of the 9000 delegates who are eligible for voting should be made public.
“If you start questioning the process, then there is no end to it,” he added. The recent exodus from the Congress, Mr. Deo said, is because of dissatisfaction that many may feel. “Each person has their political goals and career. They may want a decision making role for themselves. Politics has a fluidity to it, so many people leave the BJP and look at what happened in Bihar, didn’t JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar walk out of the NDA realigning himself with Rashtriya Janata Dal,” Mr. Deo said.
