Team Rahul hits back, blames old guard for debacle

In no mood to accept the allegations levelled by Congress candidates who lost in the Lok Sabha polls, Team Rahul members pointed out that decisions regarding the party’s campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha were mostly taken by 'a few of Congress seniors.'

The war between Rahul Gandhi’s ‘advisers’ and his baiters has intensified. In no mood to accept the allegations levelled by Congress candidates who lost in the Lok Sabha polls, Team Rahul members pointed out that decisions regarding the party’s campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha were mostly taken by “a few of Congress seniors.”

“From the choice of the advertising agency to the theme of the campaigns, the old guard took all the calls,” said a key member of Gandhi’s core team.

“Let them also not forget that Rahul Gandhi took charge of the party’s campaign when the public anger against the UPA was at its peak,” the team member added.

The latest Congress man to join the anti-advisors chorus was V Kishore Chandra Deo. The former union tribal affairs minister alleged that the advisors of Gandhi did not give him proper feedback. Earlier, Milind Deora had targeted the advisors with “no electoral experience” for calling the shots without having their “ears to the ground”.

Rubbishing the allegations, a key Gandhi associate said, “Rahul Gandhi does not take advice from one or two people. He listens many and takes feedback from several colleagues. He interacts with thousands of common people and carefully listens to their views.”

While many in the Congress feel that the campaign lacked a central theme vis-à-vis Modi’s strong, clear positioning as a champion of growing aspirations, Team Rahul points out that it was very difficult to bring a central theme for the campaign. “BJP’s campaign on focused on prioritising aspirations for a particular section of the society, we had to cater to different groups. Some senior leaders opposed the idea of a central message, perhaps due to this reason,” said the associate.