After Facing Defeat In 5 States, Several Demand Gandhis To Quit Politics; Seek New Face For Congress

The 2022 Assembly Election came like a cyclone for the Indian National Congress, as the party was forfeited in all five states - Uttarakhand, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Punjab. March 10 turned out to be the darkest day for Congress since independence, as the oldest party of India lost ground in all the states.

Lost Their Strongholds

The party had kept hope from Punjab, where they were in power but suffered a big defeat at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clean-swept other states.

Congress also lost their strongholds, Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of Sonia Gandhi, and Amethi, both of which were the family bastions of the party. They dominated these two regions.

The loss has damped the spirits of not just the party members but political analysts and citizens in support.

All 3 Gandhis Must Retire

Indian historian and one of the prominent political commentators, Ramachandra Guha, outrightly asked the three Gandhis, Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul, to immediately retire from politics for the good of their party and the nation.

Speaking to The Wire, Guha said that not only Gandhis should exit from the Congress's leadership, but give up politics completely. The historian rationalised by listing a few points.

No Political Intelligence: He alleged a lack of political intelligence. Guha called the Gandhi family active facilitators of Hindutva authoritarianism. He said the Gandhis believe their presence in Congress makes it easy for the BJP and PM Modi to deflect attention from the government's failures by resorting to debates about the past.

No Understanding Of Citizens: Guha alleged that the Gandhis were out of touch with reality and did not understand the ordinary Indian people's mindset, who were not ready to accept what he called the 'fifth-generation dynasts'.

The citizens are looking for candidates who do not have political backgrounds and have risen from the ground. The future of Congress is deserted as long as the Gandhis are in control, he added.

'Blessing To Modi, Shah': In states where Congress still has a hold, Rahul Gandhi becomes the default opposition candidate for Prime Minister Modi, which is, in turn, advantageous to Modi and BJP.

"Gandhi's are an impediment to the revival of the Congress and a blessing to Modi and Shah. Those are hard facts," The Wire quoted Guha as saying.

Demands For New Face

After the massive defeat, former Congress Spokesperson Sanjay Jha demanded a new face for the party's leadership in the hope of its future. He pitched former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan and Tonk's MLA, Sachin Pilot as the potential leader to replace Sonia Gandhi as party President.

"Sachin Pilot, Congress President. It is time to give him the responsibility of leading the Congress," Jha told the media.

He listed several qualities of Pilot that, according to him, makes for a successful leader. Jha said that Pilot was a hard-working member, a 24x7 leader, accessible to a general audience, hungry to win, and blessed with excellent communication skills.

According to the report, the calls for a new Congress face come despite calls for re-appointing Rahul Gandhi to the position.

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