'This is not a fight against the Gandhis'

'I am requesting Sonia Gandhi to listen to her inner voice again.'
'Then, she will know this is the time for the family to step aside.'

"The problem with the party today is that we do not have money. We don't even have a 20% vote bank because we are split all over the country," 'Americai' V Narayanan, an All India Congress Committee member, tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com in the concluding segment of a two-part interview:.

• PART I: 'Congress is much bigger than the Gandhis'

Is the Congress in a way not helping the BJP achieve its ambition of having a Congress-mukt Bharat?

Yes, though not intentionally.

I am a political physician and that's why I would say, either you operate the cancer or face a slow death.

I have worked in villages, and I do not sit in an AC room and work. So, I know what the reality is and what is the real India.

Are the Gandhis the cancer?

I don't think the Gandhis are the cancer because they mean well. But the tentacles of the Gandhi family are a problem with the party. But even today, party men accept them as leaders. If only Congressmen vote, Rahul Gandhi will be the prime minister. But the public will not vote for him.

Even within the party, there are people who object to the Gandhis like the group of 23, the G-23. They have been writing letters and talking for so long, but with no effect.

That's why I said, I wanted the Gandhis to step aside. There is no way you can remove them through an election, even if it's a secret ballot. Congressmen have an emotional connect with the family including myself.

They themselves should understand the situation. Sonia Gandhi had consistently understood this. She did not want Rajiv Gandhi to come to power in 1984. In 1991, even when party men pleaded with her, she refused. In 1998, she was literally dragged into the party.

When she could have been the prime minister of India, she listened to her inner voice and asked Dr Manmohan Singh to be the prime minister.

I am requesting her to listen to that inner voice again. Then, she will know this is the time for the family to step aside.

I am requesting the G-23 also. I don't want the BJP to break our party.

The G-23 leaders reiterate that they have no plan to split the party. Why are you not in the group?

They never called me. This is the problem with these intellectual groups. They should expand the base. They should talk to all the people. You just can't have a group and talk among yourselves.

I am saying again, this is not a fight within the party against the Gandhi family.

The problem with the party today is that we do not have money. We don't even have a 20% vote bank because we are split all over the country. So, we need to bring in all those who have the Congress tag like Mamata Banerjee, Jaganmohan Reddy, Sharad Pawar, etc.

G-23 should request the CWC to give them power to talk to these leaders and invite them to reunite with the party for the sake of the Congress, the country and also themselves.

You may ask, why should they come? Why should I, if I am Mamata Banerjee come to the Congress party? My answer is in this question, why would small companies merge with big companies?

If you give these leaders total freedom to run the party in their respective states and give them that power for the next 10 or 15 years, they are not losing anything. On the other hand, they have everything to gain being in a national party. But they should be part of the decision-making authorities within the Congress.

The Congress should be run by a group of people who are perceived to be successful and acceptable by people.

The perception today of the Gandhis is that they cannot bring in votes.

When you bring in these people, the Congress will automatically become powerful. Because these people are in power in their states, money also will come in. This is the reality.

This is my suggestion to both G-23 and the CWC.

Another chintan shibir is happening in the Congress. Why is it that even after so many chintan shibirs, the Gandhis have not understood the truth?

If they do not know the answer even by this time and still have to go on a brainstorm, then they do not deserve to be there. After all they have been running the party for so long!

It's like when a building is on fire, you are forming a committee to do a brainstorming on how to douse the fire.

Compared to the wisdom of the collective leadership of the CWC I know I am a moron. Still I request Sonia Gandhi to listen to her inner voice once again.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com