Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 30
Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Partap Singh Bajwa today said Rahul Gandhi must give up his insistence on quitting as Congress president and he cannot just walk away when the party needs him the most.
A day after Bajwa resigned as vice-chairman of AICC foreign affairs department urging all Congress chief ministers, state unit presidents and Congress Working Committee members to do the same, he told The Tribune it would have been different had Gandhi walked away after the party had won.
“The Congress is currently at a crossroads. The very survival of the party is at stake. Gandhi cannot just walk away at such a time. There is nothing to feel disheartened about. Had we won these elections and Gandhi had then walked away, it would have been different but today with the party in a state of complete disarray and cadre morale down, he can’t say he is going,” said Bajwa, adding while Gandhi must stay, the entire party must stand behind him and enable him to revamp the structure.
How can the Congress led down 12 crore people who have voted for it, asked Bajwa. To a question about whether a spate of resignations would help the party, Bajwa said it would reassure Gandhi of everyone’s complete support and would give him the strength to restructure the Congress.
“Most Congress persons want Gandhi to reconsider his stand to quit as party president. For this to happen we must give him our complete assurance of support,” Bajwa said. Asked what would happen if Gandhi remained insistent on quitting, the he said: “While most of the time the cadre listens to their leader, there has to be a time when the leader listens to the cadre.” Bajwa said the Congress must immediately set up a mechanism to introspect over poll losses.
On a query about whether he feels even Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh should resign after delivering eight LS seats in the state, Bajwa said: “When Gandhi resigned taking responsibility for party’s loss, all senior leaders should have taken the lead and resigned. That didn’t happen. No single person is responsible for defeat or victory. Resigning is a gesture of support and everyone should resign irrespective of whether they won or lost.”
Cong chief to meet party CMs today
For the first time since putting in his papers as Congress chief on May 25, Rahul Gandhi has called party CMs for a meeting on Monday. The CMs of all Congress-ruled states have confirmed their participation, including Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Kamal Nath (MP), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and V Narayanasamy (Puducherry).
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