Rahul Gandhi "should be made the Congress chief", former union minister Sharad Yadav said on Friday as the two leaders met in Delhi. The 74-year-old leader's remarks come as criticism mounts over the leadership crisis in the Congress after the setback in the fresh round of state elections. "Why not? If somebody runs Congress round the clock, it is Rahul Gandhi. I think he should be made the party president. Only then can something big be done," Sharad Yadav was quoted as saying by news agency ANI when asked if he should be made the party chief.
To this, Gandhi responded: "We'll see about it..."
After the meeting of the two leaders, Gandhi also targeted the BJP in his comments: “I agree with what he (Sharad Yadav) said today that the country is in a very bad situation. Hatred is being spread and the nation is being divided. We've to bring the nation together and once again walk on the path of the brotherhood which has been a part of our history.”
"In the last two-three years, media, institutions, BJP leaders, RSS have hidden the truth. Slowly the truth will come out. That is what is happening in Sri Lanka. The truth came out there. The truth will come out in India. Economists and bureaucrats make their plans by looking at other nations. PM Modi says we've to become like them. It can't be done like that. First, we've to realise who we're and what's happening here. They've broken the backbone, terrifying results would come in next three-four years."
Sharad Yadav's meeting with Rahul Gandhi comes weeks after he merged his party with Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD. “Opposition unity is imperative across India to fight the BJP. My party’s merger with the RJD is the first step in that direction. We will now work to unite all the opposition parties as defeating BJP is a big challenge," he had said at the time after the big move.
{{/usCountry}}Sharad Yadav's meeting with Rahul Gandhi comes weeks after he merged his party with Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD. “Opposition unity is imperative across India to fight the BJP. My party’s merger with the RJD is the first step in that direction. We will now work to unite all the opposition parties as defeating BJP is a big challenge," he had said at the time after the big move.
{{/usCountry}}Ahead of the 2024 national elections, opposition parties are trying to put up a front against the BJP.
But Prime Minister Narendra Modi - after the fresh round of assembly elections recently - said that "2022 has given feelers for 2024" as the BJP retained four of five states.
The Congress's poor poll performance has often brought it under attack from the BJP. Recently, union minister Anurag Thakur said the party's troubles won't end if it doesn't look beyond the Gandhis.
(With inputs from ANI)