New Delhi: Almost a week after former Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim questioned the party’s current leadership, Odisha state president of the grand old party, Bhakta Charan Das, on Sunday strongly defended national president Mallikarjun Kharge and questioned the former’s political intent.
“Those who are associated with the BJP should just go to the BJP… Rahul Gandhi worked hard to revive the party’s fortunes amid calls for a ‘Congress-Mukt Bharat’. Congress now has 99 MPs in Parliament,” he told ANI while in Delhi to attend the Congress rally organised at Ramlila Maidan against SIR.
He also rubbished talks surrounding Mallikarjun Kharge’s age.
“Kharge ji’s political journey and struggles far exceeded the experiences of those currently questioning his leadership. They would not have seen even 0.1% of it. His strength of mind and the commitment to the party cannot be questioned. He addressed the Dalit leaders last evening after attending 3-4 programmes in Mumbai. It will be difficult even for youngsters to match his dedication to the party. He was in the field four days after a heart operation. No one can guide like such a senior leader,” he added.
THE FIVE-PAGE LETTER
While expressing frustration over not meeting Rahul Gandhi for three years, the ex-MLA from Barabati-Cuttack demanded a leadership overhaul in the party. He called for the removal of Mallikarjun Kharge, complaining that the 83-year-old veteran “is unable to resonate with India’s youth”. He attributed the “deep and growing disconnect between the Congress leadership and the Indian youth” to the exit of “promising young leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Himanta Biswa Sarma” from the party.
Calling for an “open-heart surgery” for Congress’ ideological, organisation and structural renewal, he said, “I firmly believe the nation, especially its youth, are waiting for Priyanka Gandhiji to take a central, visible and active leadership role.”
He added that it is equally important that leaders such as Sachin Pilot, D K Shivakumar, Revanth Reddy and Shashi Tharoor be elevated to the core leadership of the party.
Describing himself as a “disciplined member”, Moquim had also hit out at the OPCC chief Das for allegedly calling him a “Vibhishan” (betrayers). “Without any basis, Bhakta told the media that I am a Vibhishan within the party,” he said, insisting that internal criticism was being unfairly dismissed as disloyalty.
