Kishor says Congress leadership crucial, but not ‘divine right’
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: The space represented by the Congress is vital but its leadership is not the “divine right of an individual” particularly when it has lost 90 per cent elections in the last 10 years, poll strategist Prashant Kishor said on Thursday in an apparent swipe at Rahul Gandhi.
A day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s comment that there was no UPA anymore, Kishor, who has earlier been political advisor to various parties, also called for democratically electing the opposition leadership.
His remark sparked a sharp response from the Congress with party spokesperson Pawan Khera saying on Twitter, “The individual being discussed here is pursuing his Divine Duty to struggle and save Indian democracy from the RSS.
“A professional without ideological commitment is free to advice parties/individuals on how to contest elections but he cannot set the agenda of our politics,” he said. “This bogey of Congress assuming a ‘Divine Right To Rule’ needs to be busted. Rahul Gandhi is carrying forward our rich legacy of a ‘Divine Duty To Struggle’,” the Congress leader said.
Khera also hit out at Banerjee saying that a regional leader who is not a part of the UPA claiming UPA does not exist is a bizarre claim. “Just because I’m not a citizen of the USA doesn’t mean USA doesn’t exist,” he said.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal, a prominent member of the ‘group of 23’ that wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking large scale organisational overhaul in the party also called for opposition unity and said the UPA without the Congress will be a body without a soul. His party colleague Anand Sharma, another ‘G-23’ member, said the Congress was the main national opposition party and remains a central pillar for a collective national effort.
He favoured a broad-based understanding and cooperation among secular, progressive and democratic parties on people’s issues to defeat the BJP. “That is the need of hour. That will connect with people’s expectation.”
“The IDEA and SPACE that Congress represents is vital for a strong opposition. But Congress’ leadership is not the DIVINE RIGHT of an individual especially, when the party has lost more than 90% elections in last 10 years,” Kishor had tweeted.
“Let opposition leadership be decided Democratically,” he added. Kishor and his I-PAC team have been working for the Trinamool Congress since the assembly poll in West Bengal and are working on devising strategies in expanding the party nationally.