Ex-President’s daughter asks Cong to look beyond Gandhi family

To regain importance in Indian politics, Congress should look outside the Nehru-Gandhi family for its leadership, said Sharmistha Mukherjee, the daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee. Calling herself a die-hard Congressperson, Mukherjee believes that the time has come for the grand old party to come out of dynasty politics.

“The Congress needs to take care that in 2014 and 2019, Rahul Gandhi lost in a very bad manner, he was the face of Congress. Two Lok Sabha elections happened…If a party is losing continuously under the leadership of a particular leader, then the party needs to think about it. Congress should think about who should be the face of the party”, Mukherjee said.

She noted that the Congress is still the main opposition party. “Its place is undisputed. But how to strengthen this presence? This is the question. It is the job of party leaders to consider this,” Mukherjee said while talking to news agency PTI on the sidelines of the 17th Jaipur Literature Festival.

Mukherjee, who has penned a book on Pranab Mukherjee titled ‘Pranab My Father: A Daughter Remembers’, noted the number of Congress’ seats in the Lok Sabha has reduced, but the party still has a very strong presence in national politics.

She said that there is a need to involve grassroots workers at every level in the process of restoration of democracy in the party, membership campaign, organizational elections within the party and policy decisions, as former President Pranab Mukherjee has also written in his diary.

“There is no magic wand,” she said.

On former party president Rahul Gandhi as leader, Sharmistha Mukherjee said, “It is not my job to define Rahul Gandhi. It is not possible to define any individual. If someone asks me to define my father, I cannot even explain my father.”

On the issue of leadership, she said that the Congress leaders have to answer this. “But as a Congress supporter and a responsible citizen, I am worried about the party. And certainly the time has come to look outside the Nehru-Gandhi family for leadership,” Sharmistha Mukherjee said.

She also said that she is a die-hard Congressperson whether people believe it or not.

With inputs from News18

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