Voices of dissent in the Congress over its humiliating loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections have intensified with several leaders now questioning the entire campaign strategy and leadership. Congress allies, too, have also come out in the open and blamed the Grand Old Party of India for the humiliating debacle and the massive victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
Amritsar MP Amarinder Singh on Friday slammed Congress Punjab unit chief Partap Singh Bajwa after he issued disciplinary action against those MLAs and party leaders who demanded his resignation over the party’s poll debacle.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also trained his guns on the party saying that communication is must and party leaders should be allowed to speak freely. “There is a reticence within Congress, even I was not allowed to speak,” he confessed.
When asked about Priyanka Gandhi, he said, “She is good, but we are talking as if we are giving her an ‘Oscar’ even when she did not apply for the role.”
Tharoor added that the state leaders should be encouraged.
All India Youth Congress President Rajiv Satav also criticised party leader Milind Deora’s statement that there were some in the party who remained silent when things weren’t going well. “Milind Deora should have spoken earlier,” he said.
Deora had earlier said that Rahul Gandhi’s advisors did not have their ‘ears to the ground’ and those with ‘no electoral experience’ were calling the shots, but added that the people who take the advice also have to bear responsibility.
In Assam, a section of the Congress are holding Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi responsible for party’s defeat in the general elections and are demanding his resignation. However, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi refused to accept the Assam Chief Minister’s resignation on Thursday.
