After walked away remark, Khurshid asks Rahul Gandhi to be Cong chief

Amid internal tussle within the Congress party, its senior leader and former Union minister Salman Khurshid has said that Rahul Gandhi should return as Congress president. The remark by Khurshid comes days before the assembly polls in the state of Maharashtra and Haryana. In a long Facebook post on Friday, Khurshid said that Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the Congress party and should return as the president of the Congress. After the massive Lok Sabha poll debacle, Rahul Gandhi stepped out from the post of party president, taking 'moral responsibility' of the drubbing. 

"I do believe that Rahul Gandhi is our leader, he should return as President of our grand party that Soniaji will continue to inspire. We have taken a blow but we will rise again to rule over the hearts and minds of our beloved people," Khurshid wrote in a Facebook post titled 'Letter to my colleagues in the Congress and people who are listening'.

READ: Congress rift widens, Chacko group writes to Sonia against Dikshit

Salman Khurshid 'walked away' remark

Earlier, Salman Khurshid told reporters on Monday that the party’s struggles are at the point that it may not be able to win key upcoming state elections or ensure its own future. The party is facing attrition because it is taking too long to come to terms with its defeat in the general elections of 2019. "Our biggest problem is our leader has walked away," Khurshid said, adding that Rahul Gandhi still retains the allegiance of the party. "It has kind of left a vacuum. Sonia Gandhi stepped in, but there is more than an indication that she is treating herself as a stop-gap arrangement. I wish it wasn't so," Khurshid added.

READ: "If he'd stayed...": Salman Khurshid's addendum to Rahul 'walked away'

Congress disapproves of the remark

However, Congress has disapproved Khurshid's "walked away" remarks. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the party was working together to ensure its victory in the upcoming Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections and all the leaders should channelise their energies towards it. "Salman Khurshid has given you an answer. You should seek an answer from him only. As far as I am concerned, as far as the Congress party is concerned, we are working for the Haryana and Maharashtra elections, working together, working with every possible strength that we can derive from everywhere. People should avoid making side comments and should actually expose this government for its follies, which are aplenty," he told reporters.

READ: Khurshid's 'side comments' on Rahul Gandhi get cold Congress response

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha also criticised Khurshid for the remarks. He urged the former external affairs minister to discuss all issues at the party level. "When the party has been going into election mood in states, these kinds of comments or utterances will not work well for the party. Instead of uttering outside, Khurshid should have consulted and expressed himself inside the party. On many occasions, Rahul Gandhi had categorically stated that he felt that it was moral accountability of the Congress President to own up the defeat of the Congress," Chowdhury told news agency ANI on Wednesday. 

READ: Congress: Adhir Ranjan asks Khurshid to 'express himself within party'