Priyanka backs Rahul's decision, says 'Congress should have a non-Gandhi President'

According to a recently released book 'India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders', Priyanka Gandhi Vadra agreed with her brother, Rahul Gandhi, last year when he said that a non-Gandhi should lead their party.

New Delhi: Amid the leadership crisis within Congress, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, party's General Secretary in-charge, stated in an interview for a book that she completely agreed to the viewpoint of his brother Rahul Gandhi of appointing a non-Gandhi as Congress President.

"As my brother said very clearly in his resignation letter post-elections that, he thinks... he should take responsibility for the last election. And perhaps not in the letter but elsewhere, he has said that none of us should be the president of the party and I'm in full agreement with him. I think the party should find its own path also," Priyanka said.

The Congress leader had given an interview for the recently released book, India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders, by Harsh Shah and Pradeep Chibber.

While mentioning that there are "plenty of people" who are capable of leading the party, she said that even if there would be another party president than a Gandhi, he would still be her "boss". She further added, "If he tells me tomorrow that he doesn't want me in Uttar Pradesh but wants me to be in Andaman and Nicobar, then I would jolly well to go to Andaman and Nicobar."

Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post of Congress Chief by owing to the party's debacle in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, after which Sonia Gandhi was being appointed as the interim party president. However, in the previous weeks, there has been a demand within the party to conduct an election for Congress President.

Recently, former Congress' spokesperson, Sanjay Jha, who was being sacked from the party, claimed that around 100 Congressmen have written a letter to Sonia Gandhi, asking for a change in political leadership and transparent elections within the organisation.

When contacted, Jha said to ETV Bharat that he had mentioned "exactly the same thing", which Priyanka Gandhi has asserted over in her interview. "But that became an anti-party activity," he added.

Priyanka Gandhi also pointed out that Rahul even conducted internal elections in NSUI and Youth Congress to give an opportunity to new talent, however, she said, "Oddly enough, he was attacked from within the party for this."

She also talked about the allegations over her husband, Robert Vadra, and how they affected her family. "After all the allegations were made about my husband, my first reaction was to pay a visit to my 13-year-old son and to show him every single transaction," she said.

Gandhi has been quoted that her son had to face a lot of difficulties due to these allegations as he was in an all-boys boarding school and even her husband was under "tremendous attack and stress".