Young or old Congress President? Party leaders discuss

New Delhi: Ever since Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president, the party is struggling to find a new chief. Senior party leaders are expected to meet this week to discuss the leadership issue.

After Punjab chief minister Captain Amrinder Singh suggested on Saturday that a youngster should get the responsibility, names of many young leaders, such as Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and UP general secretary (west) Jyotiraditya Scindia, have started doing the rounds. Echoing Singh’s viewpoint, former Punjab Congress chief and party MP Pratap Singh Bajwa told ET: “We need someone who can stay at the post for a longer period of time and, in my opinion, a young president would be the best bet for the party.”

With two senior leaders coming out in support of young leaders, senior leaders who were looking for an alternative among themselves, such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Mukul Wasnik (all Dalit leaders), are under pressure to take a call. In fact, a group of leaders were openly backing Kharge. Name of Maharashtra Congress leader Mukul Wasnik is also being discussed as most leaders feel the party should choose a middle-aged Dalit leader. Milind Deora, who resigned as Mumbai Congress president on Sunday, expressed his willingness to play a role at the national level to help stabilise the party.


It is becoming obvious that selecting a party chief, in the absence of Gandhis, is going to be a tough task for Congress. “The problem is all the three Gandhis have distanced themselves from the selection process. This is creating more confusion,” says a senior Congress leader.

Former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said party president should be someone who can take on the ruling party directly. “The party president should be a firebrand leader who can take on the ruling party and the government on the streets,” Nirupam told ET.

“Sadly, the names that are being discussed have mostly shied away from taking on Modi in the past. We need leaders who can practice politics of struggle like Rahul Gandhi.”