Just days after a Congress meeting saw many young leaders blame the previous government led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the party’s downfall, a section of senior leaders vouched for him.
MP Anand Sharma took to Twitter defending Dr Singh stating that the “UPA government was victim of a grand political conspiracy and malicious disinformation campaign of the BJP, political opponents and powerful vested interests.” He said the contribution of Dr Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has been commendable leading India to a “decade of compassionate and inclusive growth.”
Sharma posted an 11-tweet thread listing the achievements of the 10-year Congress rule.
Senior leaders Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and former Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora - all ministers in Dr Singh's cabinet - too chimed in.
Lawmaker Manish Tewari pointed out that even when BJP was out of power for 10 years from 2004-2014, they did not blame Vajpayee or his government.
“Unfortunately some ill -informed ‘s would rather take swipes at Dr Manmohan Singh led UPA govt than fight NDA/BJP,” he tweeted.
MP Shashi Tharoor agreed with him saying there is plenty to learn from the defeats to revive the party and not “play into the hands of our ideological enemies.”
Milind Deora tweeted that Dr Singh would “never have imagined that his own party members” would “dismiss his years of service to the nation & seek to destroy his legacy in his presence.”
The recent meeting brought to light the more divided opinions cropping up in the grand old party regarding the leadership.
Some leaders reportedly called for Rahul Gandhi's return as Congress president.
Gandhi had quit the Congress top post after the party lost in the election last year, and since then there has been no consensus on a candidate. Sonia Gandhi took over as interim chief. But the party has still not settled on a new president in more than a year.
The senior leaders reportedly assessed the party was failing to capitalise on the economic slowdown, the coronavirus response, China border dispute -- issues that have shaken the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government, reported NDTV.
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