New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made sensational comments about the party’s internal dynamics. He stated that there are two types of functionaries within the Congress party: those who are loyal to the party’s ideology and those who are working in collusion with the BJP. During his visit to Gujarat, Gandhi emphasized that unless the party distances itself from these disloyal functionaries, the people of Gujarat will not restore their faith in the Congress.
Addressing party workers in Ahmedabad, Gandhi said the people of Gujarat wanted “a real alternative” and “not a B team” of the BJP. He stressed that the party must throw out all those Congress functionaries who were maintaining links with the BJP clandestinely. “Let these people work for the BJP openly. I am sure even the BJP will not accept them,” Gandhi said.
The Congress MP, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, noted that although Congress had not been able to form the government in Gujarat for three decades, it was still receiving a good share of votes in the state. Gandhi mentioned that only a five percent increase in its vote share would bring it close to the state’s ruling BJP. He added that Congress was able to increase its vote share by 22 percent in the last assembly elections in Telangana.
Gandhi also pointed out the poor state of small and medium businesses in Gujarat, citing the diamond and ceramic industries as examples. He acknowledged that the people of Gujarat had been “trapped” politically and that the Congress party, including himself, had failed to rescue them from this trap. Gandhi emphasized the importance of reaching out to the people of Gujarat with the lessons learned from Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel to reclaim the party’s lost ground in the state.
