CONGRESS DOESN’T NEED ME: KRISHNA
Bengaluru, Jan. 29: Taking potshots at Congress leadership a day after his exit from the party, former Karnataka Chief Minister and veteran leader S.M. Krishna on Sunday said it did not need “mass leaders” but only wanted “managers” as he complained of being sidelined due to his age.
“With pain and anguish, I have decided to quit Congress,” he stated, adding that “selfrespect” was important for him but declined to spell out the next step, saying he would have to think about it.
Stating that Congress had suddenly discovered “I was past my age,” 84year-old Krishna said, “Unfortunately it is somebody else who makes up the mind. It is somebody else who decides. Hence I felt for sometime now that Congress does not need me.”
“Congress today depends more on managers who can manage the party. They do not want time-tested leaders or time-tested workers like me. Hence I have taken the decision, however painful it has been because today I am going away from a house in which I was familiar,” said Krishna.
The former external affairs minister said he had seen both good and bad and tasted sweetness and bitterness in the party but he had always remained steadfast in his loyalty.
“But it now seems the Congress is in a confusion whether it needs mass leaders or not. Just managing the situation seems to be good enough,” he said.
Krishna had dashed off a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi conveying his decision to resign from the primary membership.