Amid a growing demand for leadership change in the opposition INDIA bloc, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday told party MPs to refrain from reacting to the comments of "middle- and low-rung" leaders of the alliance.
Rahul, who chaired a meeting of the party MPs at Parliament Annexe in the morning, asserted that the Congress, being the largest party in the bloc, is capable of addressing the issues, PTI reported quoting sources.
The report also claimed that the former Congress chief told the MPs to ensure that all of them were present for the party's protest ahead of the Parliament sittings, especially when party president Mallikarjun Kharge was participating.
Interestingly, the Rae Bareli MP's remarks came in the wake of several parties in the INDIA bloc demanding a change in leadership and many of them extending support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to lead the alliance.
Currently, Congress president Kharge is the chairman of the opposition grouping. However, the party is at the receiving end after its drubbing in the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, had recently expressed her willingness to lead the alliance if given an opportunity and urged the grand old party to do an introspection in the wake of the election loss.
A slew of leaders has come in support of Banerjee, the latest being Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. "Yes, she should lead. The Congress's reservations amount to nothing. Mamata should be given the leadership role (Mamata ko do),” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Earlier, the Samajwadi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party-SP and the YSR Congress had extended their support to Banerjee. While NCP-SP leader Sharad Pawar called her a “capable leader”, YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP Vijayasai Reddy said Banerjee could better handle INDIA bloc parties.
"Didi will be in a position to handle INDIA bloc parties more effectively and to lead it to power," Reddy said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) has also made it clear that the party is open to discussing if someone outside the Congress should lead the INDIA bloc.
