‘Reducing a state to Union Territory no way of respecting democracy’

Senior Congressman and former union minister Salman Khurshid has caused a flutter saying that former Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi, “walking away” from the party’s responsibilities at a time when there are three Assembly elections can cost the party dearly. He was speaking at an event at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Delhi on Tuesday. Edited excerpts of an interview with

Amrita Madhukalya: You have been quoted as saying that Rahul Gandhi leaving the party during a crucial time has caused a flutter. But you say you have been misquoted. Can you please tell us what did you say at the event on Tuesday?

I will not say anything more about it; I said what I had to. If people don’t understand, I just pity them. I’m very sorry for people who do not understand what I said. If I have said anything wrong, just point it out to me. If it is wrong, I will correct it.

The idea that the party’s prospects in the election-bound states have dimmed with Rahul Gandhi away from action is not entirely untrue.

Who knows, he may come back. And we will all be there; I am going to campaign and so will a bunch of senior party leaders. It doesn’t matter if it is a tough election. We will fight vigorously. Some timely steps have been taken and whatever [steps are] necessary will be taken, too. I’m not sure why people are concerned about how we will fight. That’s our concern.

At the same event, you spoke about Article 370, an issue the party is yet to see common ground across its ranks.

I had said that Article 370 has to be understood in the context of a pact we have with the people of Jammu and Kashmir...But be that as it may, Article 370 is another issue. Federalism is a greater issue and it requires that sentiments of the people are taken into consideration in a democratic way, reducing a state to a Union Territory is no way of respecting democracy. But ultimately, the people are the judges... And whatever our convictions are about Kashmir, secularism, state of the economy or national defence, the convictions that we have must be placed before the people of India and I’m sure the people of India will endorse our positions.

What does the party plan to stem the high rate of attrition that has happened in the last few days?

That is what I had flagged when I spoke at yesterday’s event: Time is short and we need to do something immediately...People who had left are people who got most from the Congress and it is such a sad and pitiable thing. There are many people like me who will not leave the Congress no matter how adverse our circumstances are. I do believe that in the end, we will succeed and those who have left will fail.

There seems to be no action from the party leadership on these people leaving.

The situations are such that we cannot take punitive action; we need to sit down and convince our people. The party needs to strategise a way to stop the attrition. And even after that, if those who got a lot from the party, want to leave, then they should.