Sonia, Rahul inaccessible to Cong leaders: Ex-PM's son

Former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's son and senior Congress leader Anil Shastri on Tuesday said that most problems within the party can be resolved if the top leadership in Delhi becomes accessible and demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should be considered for the post of party chief.

"There are certain things lacking in the leadership of Congress party and the most significant one is that meetings are not held between party leaders. If a party leader from a different state comes to Delhi, it's not easy for him to meet senior party leaders here," Shashtri said.

"If the senior leaders of the Congress party, such as Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi start meeting party leaders, then I think 50 per cent of the problem will be solved," he said.

The Congress leader said that the new party chief should be from the Gandhi family and there is no one better than Priyanka as Rahul Gandhi is unwilling to take up the job of party chief again.

"If Gandhi family does not have the leadership of the Congress, then the party will be finished. Party president should be from the Gandhi family. If Sonia Gandhi does not want to continue, then either Rahul or Priyanka should take over. Rahul is also unwilling and he resigned as party chief last year," he said.

"In such circumstances, I think there is no one better than Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the party president's post. She has acceptability. If Priyanka becomes Congress chief then the BJP will face a big challenge in 2024 Lok Sabha polls," he said.

After a marathon meeting of Congress Working Committee, it was decided that Sonia Gandhi will continue as party interim chief until such time as circumstances will permit and AICC session is convened.

The meeting was held in the backdrop of a letter by over 20 senior leaders calling for 'full time' active leadership, sweeping reforms and raising questions about the party's condition and direction, as well as demanding the election of the CWC.