Congress leadership is missing Ahmed Patel's advice: Shankersinh Vaghela

Former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela on Thursday said that after Ahmed Patel's death there is no leader in Congress who can guide the party's top leadership, and the party is suffering because of that.

Vaghela, who attended the meeting of dissident G-23 leaders in Delhi the day before, was speaking to reporters at his residence here. He himself is not associated with any political party now, having quit Congress in 2017. The veteran leader termed the Congress' decision to give the responsibility of Uttar Pradesh elections to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as "misfire". "The recent performance of Congress in elections shows the party is suffering because of Ahmed Patel's absence. After his demise, there is no one to take his place and guide the leadership. If the party had found his replacement, there was not reason to form this G-23," he said. Patel, a trusted confidante and advisor of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, died in 2020.

"Asking Priyanka Gandhi to head (Congress' campaign in) Uttar Pradesh was a misfire. Now there is a blot on her career. It happened because there was no proper advisor. G-23 wants the leadership to listen to them. This group is not revolting against the party. Their only problem is that no one listens to them," said Vaghela. On the party's debacle in Punjab, Vaghela said even a political novice would know that a sitting chief minister should not be removed just months ahead of elections. "The problem lies with the leadership. Politics is a full-time job. It is not a part-time job. Rahul Gandhi's advisor should have told him this," he said.