Sounding the poll bugle, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has set off an “introspection” within the party amid complaints that he is not taking charge to combat the Opposition’s onslaught after the recent electoral debacle.
Hours after Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan resigned on Saturday to “work for the party”, Gandhi told the FICCI annual general body meeting that the Congress can no more allow slow decision-making.
“Accountability has to be clear, fixed and time-bound,” he said fuelling speculation that the AICC leadership and the Government are going to see changes.
The names of Ministers who it is rumoured will quit soon include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jairam Ramesh, and Milind Deora.
Though Natarajan claimed that she was taking up party work, there was no word from the AICC leadership about her next assignment. Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, said the biggest problem was arbitrary powers at all levels of the system.
“This is what we face. In India, there are lot of arbitrary powers. The Environment Minister or the Chief Minister can take any decision he wants,” the Nehru scion said. Congress sources said a number of Ministers, particularly those who claim closeness to Gandhi, have offered to resign and take up party work. But a senior Congress leader termed “this (Jayanti Natarajan’s resignation) an isolated incident. No more resignations are on the cards now.”
A Minister said the discussions on “chain of resignations” are baseless. The additional responsibility of Environment Ministry has been given to Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily.
After the recent debacle in the Assembly elections, Gandhi has appeared in at least half a dozen public functions, including a brief speech in Parliament.
“It was a brief speech but it was to the point. This is what we expect from Rahul. There is a challenge for the party and he should be able to address it,” a senior Congress MP said.
Another Minister in the Cabinet said a slew of policy measures had to be taken soon. “Rahul’s speech at FICCI was in the right direction. Politics and people’s sentiments change by proper actions. Such issues can be addressed by joint efforts and what we need now is cohesive action at the policy front. We hope that Rahul Gandhi will give the Cabinet a direction.”
The Opposition has been blaming the lack of “ideological coordination” between Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Committee and Manmohan Singh’s Cabinet for the “policy paralysis.”