Senior party leader Shashi Tharoor has given clarification on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement regarding regional parties. He said that Rahul meant that Congress has a national vision and we think for the entire country. During the recently concluded three-day ‘Chintan Shivir’, the former Congress President had spoken of ‘lack of ideology’ in regional parties. After this, some parties like Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Janata Dal had expressed their displeasure.
Talking to NDTV, Tharoor said, ‘I think he (Rahul Gandhi) meant that we have a national vision. We speak and think for the country. Whereas, regional parties are generally limited to a specific region or group due to their nature. He clarified, “I think the majority of the ideology of Trinamool, RJD, Samajwadi Party and even DMK for example will be compatible with the Congress’s ideology.”
What did Rahul say?
Congress’s Chintan Shivir was organized in Jaipur, Rajasthan from May 13 to 15. On the last day of the program, Rahul had said, “BJP will talk about Congress, will talk about Congress leaders, Congress will talk about workers, but will not talk about regional parties, because they know that regional parties Parties have their place, but they cannot defeat the BJP. Because they don’t have ideology.
angry fellow parties
Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Jha said the Congress should become a ‘co-traveller’ and give them (regional parties) driving seats in over 320 out of 543 parliamentary constituencies. At the same time, JMM said, ‘How are we running the party without any ideology’. The JMM pointed out that the Congress is dependent on regional parties to survive in many states.
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy said there has been a ‘phobia’ in the party towards regional parties. He said that Rahul Gandhi should remember that Congress has ruled for 10 years at the Center with the help of regional parties.