Not supporting Sonia Gandhi would be betraying Congress: Mallikarjun Kharge

Says MPs and leaders responsible for polls disaster, not Gandhi family

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R  A day after the Congress Working Committee put its weight behind Sonia Gandhi and asked her to initiate necessary changes in the party, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday, said all the party MPs and leaders in states are responsible for the poll debacle and not the Gandhi family.

Kharge, who is the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said the BJP/RSS and the prime minister attack the Gandhis all the time and if all the leaders do not stand with them at this time, it would be "betrayal".

"Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been fighting for a cause and have taken on the BJP/RSS head on. They have often been attacked by the BJP/RSS and the prime minister and in such times, if we don't stand with them, we would be betraying ourselves," he told PTI.

The senior Congressman said Sonia Gandhi has made several sacrifices for the party and devoted her entire life for building the Congress and none of the members of the Gandhi family have occupied any positions in the government for many years.

"She has never asked for any position. She built the party from the scratch and it is unfair if we still attack her. We all want her to continue to lead the party and we will stand with her. We took a unanimous decision that she should lead from the front and reinforce our faith and win back the trust of people," Kharge said.

He also said that all CWC members told Sonia Gandhi that she alone is not responsible and every state leader and every Member of Parliament is responsible for this defeat of the party in the five states and not the Gandhi family.

Kharge said there was "no question" of her resigning as the focus now will be on how to strengthen the party in the next round of elections.

"We will continue our fight against the BJP and its ideology. We will push our ideology and convince the people and win back their trust. We hope that in the coming elections, we will do much better," he said.

"Whatever lapses and shortcomings are there, we will try to correct them and will take to the streets to reconnect with people at the grassroots level," the former Union minister said.

Extending support to Sonia Gandhi, Kerala Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said, "For the past three decades, the Congress has withstood many storms. Soniaji stood like a rock in such adverse situations preventing any weathering. I would like to thank entire CWC for standing behind Soniaji and reimposing faith in her leadership."