Is Rahul Gandhi responsible for Congress’ electoral defeats? Here’s what Karti Chidambaram said

Senior Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, in a candid assessment of the Congress party’s electoral defeats over the last 10 years, on Sunday underscored the collective responsibility of the party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and the top leadership of the grand old party.

He, however, backed Rahul’s leadership and defended the Nehru-Gandhi family’s hold over the Congress, asserting that every political party, barring a few, is run by families. “Everybody is irresponsible. Of course, the leadership is responsible. But the point is the average party cadre has a special connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family. And they want that family to be the centre of the leadership of the party,” he said.

Advertisement

The Congress MP cited several examples, including that of the Samajwadi Party, the National Conference, the Nationalist Congress Party, and the Trinamool Congress.

“If you go to the national conference, it will be unthinkable for anybody outside the Abdullah family to be a leader. You go to the, say, Mufti breaks away from this, and what does he do? I mean, he’s only succeeded by his daughter. Mamata Banerjee breaks away from the Congress and starts a new party. Who’s her successor? Her nephew. Sharad Pawar breaks away from the party and forms a new party. Who is his successor? His daughter or his late nephew? You and your father also tried to break away at one point. My father was not the leader of the party,” Chidambaram said.

‘From tomorrow, none will talk about coalition govt’: DMK snubs Congress demand for power sharing

The minister further stated that even the NDA alliance parties are also run by families. “And look at the other parties, the parties in which the BJP has an alliance, they have an alliance with Chandrababu Naidu’s party. Who do you think is going to succeed Chandrababu Naidu? It’ll be his son in Tamil Nadu. What about Paswan’s party? So, what about the Shiv Sena too, when the BJP had an alliance with?” he said.

Chidambaram also admitted that his father’s attempt to leave the Congress and form a new party was unsuccessful, and they eventually returned to the Congress fold. P Chidambaram had quit the Congress and formed the Tamil Maanila Congress in 2001. However, he merged his party with the Congress in 2004.

“We broke away unsuccessfully. We came back. Not many, everybody can run. Pranab Mukherjee did not run a successful political party. We came back to the Congress. Everybody doesn’t succeed,” he said.