Poll | Is it ‘time up’ for 60+ leaders in Congress?

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday kicked up a storm when he said that leaders above the age of 60 may only play an advisory role in the party after Rahul Gandhi takes over as president. It remains to be seen whether the leaders who have served the party for decades will step down to make way for fresh blood.

Indian politics has predominantly been about ‘experience’ and most leaders who have made their way to the top seem hesitant to bid adieu. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday kicked up a storm when he said that leaders above the age of 60 may only play an advisory role in the party after Rahul Gandhi takes over as president.

Jairam Ramesh added when Rahul Gandhi assumes charge, it’s not one individual taking over; it’s a whole team being put in place. (Arvind Yadav/ HT Photo)

“There is (will be) no bloodbath (when Rahul takes over). I don’t think Gandhi will treat the seniors the way Modi has treated the seniors. Modi has sent LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh...everybody to Siberia”, the Congress Rajya Sabha member told PTI in an interview in Hyderabad.

Ramesh added when Rahul assumes charge, it’s not one individual taking over; it’s a whole team being put in place. “So, he (Rahul) has been spending a lot of time figuring out the structure plus the people. Structure without the people is meaningless, and the people without structure is not very useful. So, from what I gather in the past few months he has been devoting time to finalising the structure as well as the people to fill that structure”.