Haven’t met Rahul in last four years, says Cong leader and ex-CM Prithviraj Chavan

Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, a member of a group of dissidents in the party, has said that he has not been able to meet senior leader Rahul Gandhi in the last four years.

There was no `chintan’ or introspection at the recent Congress conclave in Udaipur, he told the Times of India podcast which released on Thursday.

“I occasionally meet Dr Manmohan Singh whenever I am in Delhi. But his health is not what it used to be earlier. He is always hospitable and ready to talk. I have also met Sonia Gandhi whenever I sought time, but I haven’t been able to meet Rahul Gandhi for long time...I think in four years. There is a complaint that the party leadership is not as accessible as it should be,” said Chavan during the interview.

The former Union minister is part of the `G-23, a group of dissident leaders who are pressing for organizational reforms in the Grand Old Party which has suffered one electoral setback after another in the recent years.

Speaking about the Udaipur meeting, Chavan said the Congress president had agreed to hold a “chintan shibir” to discuss the issues before the party, but someone “more loyal than the king” decided that a chintan or introspection wasn’t needed.

“So, the Udaipur meeting was a `nav-sankalp (new resolution) shibir.’ The party felt that a post-mortem was not needed and it only needed to look at the future,” he said.

“There should have been an honest introspection, not to fix accountability or hang people, but to ensure that we don’t repeat those mistakes. After the Assam and Kerala Assembly polls, a committee was formed to go into the party’s performance. But the committee’s report was buried in a cupboard, which is not in the correct spirit of things,’’ he said.