I will vote for Rahul as Cong president: Capt
new All India Congress Committee (AICC) president should be appointed through consensus and not election as it helps to bind the party and Rahul Gandhi is certainly up to it, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Sunday.
He also said it was up to Sonia Gandhi whether she will continue as party chief for another term and the party will be happy if she decides so.
Amarinder, however, favoured projection of regional leaders in Congress and making them the party’s face in each state ahead of assembly elections. “Elections are always bitter and consensus keeps the party together. There should be a consensus on the party president. You don’t have any bad blood. It is all happening in a happy way,” he told PTI in an interview.
The organisational election process within the Congress is underway and the new party chief has to be elected by October 15.
On Sonia Gandhi, he said it will be entirely her call on whether to continue for another term till 2019. “She has worked very hard. If she wants to stay, I think the party will be too happy. If she wants to go, I think Rahul is in a position to take over ... . As party vice-president, I have been dealing with him for 2-3 years, I find that he is certainly up to it,” he said.
He, however, said his impression is that she feels she has done enough. She has not had time off for the last 20 years, which is a long time, ever since she took over as party chief in 2017, Amarinder said.
Asked whether he prefers someone other than a member of the Gandhi family to lead the party, he said traditionally the Congress has been headed by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
“I am going to vote for Rahul. Who else do we have?” he said. Asked what is holding Rahul back from taking over, the Punjab CM said he is already going through the process. “I think one must not write off Rahul. People are trying to write him off. They are trying to fob him off, calling him childish names. That is unnecessary. I think he is very perceptive and very decisive,” Amarinder said.
On promoting regional talent within the party, Amarinder said every state has regional leaders unlike in the past and the Congress has to project them ahead of elections, as people these days vote for a face.
He said all states have regional parties and regional leaders and everyone knows if they win, who will be the chief minister. This was not the case earlier when it was the Jan Sangh or Congress.
“So you should have to have a face. The Congress must come down to this point. If Himachal Pradesh is tomorrow, then who is the face? This is very important today,” he said and cited his own case.
Amarinder said India has so many problems and people are hoping for somebody who does better and if one does not deliver, they choose the other the next time. He also cited Arvind Kejriwal’s example, whose party was rejected by voters in the civic polls in Delhi.
“You see Mr Kejriwal being pushed out. Because they feel he has not delivered. So delivery is important,” he said.