Time for 'immediate leadership change' in Congress, says Shashi Tharoor

Against the backdrop of the high drama unfolding in Punjab after the “humiliated” Congress veteran leader, Amarinder Singh stepped down as Chief Minister, Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor has demanded a new leadership to take over the 136-year-old Congress Party at once.

On Saturday (September 18), Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor pointed out that though nobody has spoken a word against Sonia Gandhi, she herself was keen to step down and urged for a “new leadership” to quickly take over the party, said media reports.

Also read: ‘Humiliated’ Amarinder quits as CM as Punjab Congress crisis deepens

Tharoor, one of the 23 party leaders who had written a letter last year to Sonia Gandhi pushing for sweeping changes in the party, told the media that if Rahul Gandhi wanted to take over the party, he should do so now. Moreover, various feeder organisations of the Congress party have been demanding that Rahul Gandhi should take over as the new President of the party, said a Deccan Herald report.

The urgency behind Tharoor’s statement has been prompted by Amarinder Singh’s resignation as Punjab Chief Minister today, just months before the state Assembly polls, saying he felt humiliated and the Congress is free to “appoint whoever they trust”. He added that he would “exercise his options when the time comes”.

According to Tharoor, if the Congress has to come back to power, they should move fast and things should fall into place as soon as possible. If the Congress had to face elections, they would have to sort out the leadership issue now.