Congress Upset with Sanjay Nirupam's Remarks on Generational Clash in Party

Mumbai Congress chief, Sanjay Nirupam’s comments about a generational clash in the party has not gone down well with the party leadership.

New Delhi:  Controversial remarks about a “generational clash” within the party by Mumbai Congress chief, Sanjay Nirupam, have not gone down well with the party leadership. Several leaders have frowned upon attempts to project Vice President, Rahul Gandhi as a “group leader” within the party trying to promote the young at the cost of the old.

“Rahul Gandhi is not a group leader in the Congress. He is the leader of the entire Congress. This is a perception created by the media,” said Shakeel Ahmed, party general secretary.

The party cited examples of Bharatsinh Solanki in Gujarat, VM Sudheeran in Kerala, Ashok Chavan in Maharashtra, and N Uttam Kumar Reddy in Telangana, who are either 60 years of age or are approaching the same.

Another Congress leader, Manish Tewari said, “No old guard, no new guard, no rear guard, no front guard… Every leader has to make space for themselves in politics and no one does it for him.”

While Mr Nirupam did not say it directly, his reference was to the factional resistance to Congress chiefs in state units of Madhya Pradesh, headed by Arun Yadav, Rajasthan under Sachin Pilot, Haryana has Ashok Tanwar, and Punjab that is being run by Pratap Singh Bajwa.

“It is not the proper time to draw a line between senior Congressmen and young Turks when the need of the hour is for all to work together to fight the communal forces,” said senior leader Rashid Alvi.

A party leader, who declined to be identified, took a dig at Mr Nirupam for his Shiv Sena background, saying it was “amusing” that Congressmen have to learn about their culture from a former Shivsainik.  Mr Nirupam is a former Shiv Sena lawmaker who crossed over to the Congress in 2005.

Party’s chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala has already made it clear that Congress does not believe in sending its senior leaders on “compulsory leave” and putting them in ‘Margdarshak Mandal’, in an apparent dig at BJP.