Cong distances itself from Jairam’s remarks
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday distanced itself from former Union minister Jairam Ramesh’s remarks that time was up for 60-plus leaders in the Congress and the younger generation should be given prominence in the new team under Rahul Gandhi.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the Congress had never put an age bar and it was the working committee of the party that in a serious manner, and not through “frivolous statement”, took decisions in collective wisdom about policies.
“He (Ramesh) speaks for himself… None of us is authorised to make statements which the working committee has not sanctioned or not endorsed,” Sharma said.
He also dismissed Ramesh’s suggestion as his “personal view” and asserted there was no gap between the young and the old. He argued that Congress had always believed in a harmonious blend of the youth’s energy with seniors’ maturity, wisdom and experience.
The party, however, continued its attack on finance minister Arun Jaitley for his unusually strong remarks about the Supreme Court verdict on NJAC dealing with appointments of judges in the higher judiciary.
Sharma said Jaitley’s remark was “unfortunate, deplorable and smacks of arrogance” of a government that was “authoritarian in its approach and disrespectful of established Institutions”.
Taking a jibe at Jaitley, Sharma said he should focus on his job and manage the country’s sputtering economy. HTC