After ‘Blaming’ Rahul for Cong’s Plight, Khurshid Clarifies Remark

He had said the party couldn’t analyse the defeat in the LS polls as Rahul Gandhi walked away.

The former law minister told the daily that he is also not happy with the temporary arrangement of having an Interim president.

(Photo: The Quint)

A day after Congress leader Salman Khurshid said that the current problem with the Congress is that its leader, Rahul Gandhi, walked away, he clarified his statement. Speaking to news agency ANI, Khurshid said he won't leave the party, like certain members who did.

“We aren’t like those who got everything from the party and when the chips are down, things were difficult, they left the party and walked away.”

Salman Khurshid, Congress Leader

He further said that if Rahul Gandhi decided to step down despite the resistance from within the camp, it was his decision and will be respected.

He also said that this is perhaps the first time a major defeat has not caused a party to lose confidence in their leader. If he had stayed and was around, we would've understood better the causes of our defeat and be better prepared to fight the battles in coming times," Khurshid said.

Khurshid had, on Tuesday, said that it’s time for his party to “analyse the reasons" for its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in May and understand the message of the verdict.

In conversation with The Indian Express, Khurshid had said the party could not carry out the analysis because Rahul Gandhi walked away, leaving a vacuum within the party.

The former law minister told the daily that he is also not happy with the temporary arrangement of having an interim president. He added that whoever is the leader, he wants them to stay.

When asked about the upcoming Haryana and Maharashtra elections, he said that with the new leadership in Haryana and other places, he "hopes that the party is battle ready."

On his earlier comments about the Congress not being able to analyse the Lok Sabha elections defeat, he told the newspaper that the party's problem is that even after the leader walked away, "we still remain committed to him... This is a unique thing."

During the interview, Khurshid also hoped that the party is able to address the issue after the Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra.

“The sooner we do it (the analysis) the better. Because that is how we will get the message. We had a fantastic manifesto, but we were not able to carry the people. So let’s do something,” he was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

(With inputs from ANI and The Indian Express)