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‘Cong directionless’, Rahul Gandhi surrounded by ‘pensioners club’: Sena
The Sena also criticised Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for failing to have an impact in the elections. It said that the party brought in Priyanka Gandhi, but it was of no use.
Days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the Lok Sabha elections pocketing 303 seats on its own and 352 with partners, it’s ally Shiv Sena took on the Congress and said that Rahul Gandhi’s “personality doesn’t attract people”.
The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana on Monday said that people can’t draw inspiration from what Gandhi says. It called the Congress “directionless” that has “leaders but no workers”.
Interestingly, the Sena, when it was at loggerheads with the BJP, had lauded Gandhi for steering his party to victories in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh Assembly poll last year.
In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 and Shiv Sena 18 of Maharashtra’s 48 seats. Sharad Pawar’s NCP could manage 4 and the Congress just 1 seat.
“Rahul Gandhi is not Motilal or Jawaharlal Nehru. He is neither Indira Gandhi nor Rajiv Gandhi. He is just a son of Sonia Gandhi... Rahul Gandhi’s personality does not attract people and his speeches are not impressive,” the editorial titled ‘What will happen to Congress is a question’ read.
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The editorial further added that while BJP has Amit Shah’s organisational abilities, Gandhi is surrounded by either “childish stuff or pensioners club”. The Sena said that though Gandhi made efforts, he did not have the backing of senior party leaders including P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot.
The Sena also criticised Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for failing to have an impact in the elections. It said that the party brought in Priyanka Gandhi, but it was of no use. “In 2014, the party had won 2 seats in UP, now it came down to one, even Rahul Gandhi lost his seat,” it said.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that Gandhi offered to resign as the party president, but the Congress Working Committee did not accept it. “The one who did not accept it (resignation) do not have an option or a strong hand; this is the current state of the Congress party. The question is what will happen to such a party,” it asked.
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