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Shashi Tharoor, Senior Congress leader and three-time Lok Sabha MP from from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has clearly stated that the Congress must expedite the process of finding a full-term president to arrest the growing public perception that the party is “adrift and rudderless.
Tharoor’s remarks comes on a day when Sonia Gandhi completes one year as interim chief on August 10, with the party yet to find her successor.
Tharoor also said that he certainly thinks Rahul Gandhi has the “mettle, capability and aptitude to once again lead the party”, but if he does not wish to do so then the party must “take action” to elect a new chief.
“I certainly believe we should be clear about our leadership going forward. I welcomed Sonia ji’s appointment as interim president last year, but I do believe it’s unfair to her to expect her to carry this burden indefinitely,” Tharoor said..
“We also need to arrest the growing public perception, fuelled by a dismissive media, that the Congress is adrift and rudderless, incapable of taking up the challenge of a credible national opposition,” the former Union minister of state for External affairs and HRD said.
That is precisely what the Congress needs to urgently address by expediting the process of finding a full-term president, through a participatory and democratic process that will offer the winning candidate a legitimate mandate and the credibility that will be indispensable in ushering in much needed organisational and structural revival of the party, Tharoor said.
In areport bya news agency , when asked about growing voices in the Congress that Rahul Gandhi must come back as party chief and if it was the best possible scenerio that he returns, Tharoor said, “Of course, if Rahul Gandhi is ready to resume the leadership, all he has to do is to withdraw his resignation. He was elected to serve till December 2022 and can just pick up the reins again.”
“But if he does not, we have to take action. My own personal view, which as you know I have been advocating for some time now, is that elections to the Congress Working Committee and for the post of president would certainly have a number of beneficial outcomes for the party,” Tharoor said.
A participatory democratic process would significantly add to the incoming leader’s credibility and legitimacy which, in turn, would be vital assets as they set about the significant organisational challenges associated with re-energising the rank and file of the party, said the former UN diplomat .
