No threat to Rahul Gandhi, says Digvijay Singh

Hyderabad: AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on Monday said that it is up to Rahul Gandhi to react on the general perception in the Congress that people want to see and hear him more to rejuvenate the party and take on the new challenges from BJP-led NDA.

In an interview to this newspaper on Monday evening at Gandhi Bhavan, the AICC general secretary said there was no threat to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership in the party and the so called conflict between juniors and seniors on Rahul’s leadership is baseless.

“The existing set up like Soniaji as party president and Rahul Gandhi as vice-president will continue. There was never a challenge to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. The  only thing people want is to see and hear more from him to  take new challenges.” Replying to a question he said it is just not practical to float a nationwide front with all non-NDA parties and take on Narendra Modi. “Janata Dal (U) president Sharad Yadavji’s  proposal cannot be implemented for the entire country. Political situation is not the same  in every state. However, the Congress  understands the message behind Sharad Yadav proposal and will float fronts wherever  possible to take on the BJP.”

He said an in depth study is needed to understand how BJP got 300 plus seats with  31 per cent of votes and Congress got only 44 with 19 per cent of votes. “At some point in  time people will realise the Congress alone is the saviour of  the country and bring Congress back to power. Congress has  always been in the forefront to take on challenges particularly from communal forces like BJP and it will continue to do so,” Mr Singh said.