Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
India

Criticism mounts in Congress at 'Team Rahul'

Darpan News Desk Darpan, 22 May, 2014 01:24 PM
    Voices are growing in the Congress over the role of "Team Rahul" in the Lok Sabha elections with suggestions that the aides of vice president Rahul Gandhi could not read the ground realities.
     
    Party leaders have begun giving vent to their feelings after the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.
     
    However, the criticism is not targeted directly at Rahul Gandhi, who led the party's campaign, but his team which aided him in campaign planning and strategy.
     
    Former union minister Milind Deora, who said that Gandhi's advisers did not have their ears to the ground, stuck to his remarks Thursday but noted that his remarks were expressed out of "deep loyalty" and "pain".
     
    "My comments are out of emotions of deep loyalty to the party, pain of our performance & a sincere desire to see us bounce back. Nothing more," Deora tweeted.
     
    "Field party work & electoral battles are key to comprehend ground realities. This should form the basis for leadership posts in the Congress," he wrote in another tweet.
     
    Deora said there were strong murmurs in the party that people who were calling the shots did not have electoral experience, status, standing and credibility in the party. 
     
    Deora, who did not take names during an interview to a national daily, also made a veiled criticism of Gandhi, saying that those who "take the advice also have to bear responsibility".
     
    Former Congress MP Priya Dutt Thursday said a "bigger role" in the party organisation should only be given to "elected representatives".
     
    "The Congress governments at the centre did a lot for the welfare of the people but we could not project our achievements or communicate them well," she said.
     
    Dutt acknowledged there was disconnect between the party and the people at the grass root level. "We need to check that and take corrective measures," she said.
     
    Both Dutt and Deora lost their Lok Sabha election.
     
    Party workers have also been complaining that there was lack of avenues in the party to voice their opinions to the top leaders. 
     
    Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman refused to comment on the controversy, saying it was an "internal matter" of the Congress.
     
    The Congress won just 44 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Thousands hit as snag curbs Metro services at peak hour

    Thousands hit as snag curbs Metro services at peak hour
    Thousands of commuters were left stranded Wednesday evening as a technical snag hit Delhi Metro's Blue Line during the evening rush hour, causing delay and overcrowding at many stations for about an hour, before the fault was rectified, officials said.

    Thousands hit as snag curbs Metro services at peak hour

    SC unblocks nursery admissions in Delhi

    SC unblocks nursery admissions in Delhi
    The Supreme Court Wednesday revoked suspension of nursery admissions, and said the children of parents who have moved the court for admission under inter-state quota, would be admitted to the schools were they have applied.

    SC unblocks nursery admissions in Delhi

    India, a pioneer in space programmes: PM's envoy

    India, a pioneer in space programmes: PM's envoy
    India had established the Space Commission and the Indian Space Research Organisation "very early", and the country was a "pioneer in space programmes in Asia" much ahead of China, the prime minister's special envoy for disarmament and non-proliferation, Rakesh Sood, said here Wednesday.

    India, a pioneer in space programmes: PM's envoy

    Modi's Varanasi rally spiked, BJP on warpath

    Modi's Varanasi rally spiked, BJP on warpath
    The BJP Wednesday declared war on the Election Commission after it denied permission to its prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi to hold rallies and another event Thursday in Varanasi where he is contesting his second Lok Sabha seat.

    Modi's Varanasi rally spiked, BJP on warpath

    60 million vote in second last round of Lok Sabha battle

    60 million vote in second last round of Lok Sabha battle
    Over 60 million people Wednesday voted in 64 Lok Sabha constituencies across seven states - the number higher than the 2009 average - in the second last round of a staggered election widely tipped to usher in a new government.

    60 million vote in second last round of Lok Sabha battle

    CBI arrests two civic officials for taking bribe

    CBI arrests two civic officials for taking bribe
    The CBI Tuesday arrested two officials of Delhi's civic agency MCD after they were caught taking bribe.

    CBI arrests two civic officials for taking bribe