Former minister K.V. Thomas joins ‘bring Priyanka’ chorus
1 min read . Updated: 23 May 2014, 12:54 AM ISTThe clamour for Priyanka Gandhi to come to Congress' rescue is increasing after its rout in the general election
New Delhi: As the Congress party tries to come to terms with its rout in the general election, the clamour for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to come to its rescue is increasing.
K.V. Thomas, one of the few cabinet ministers in the Congress party-led government to be re-elected and considered to be close to party president Sonia Gandhi, said on Friday that Gandhi Vadra should join active politics.
“Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is loved by every one, because she resembles (late prime minister) Indira Gandhi," Thomas said.
He, however, refused to say that her brother and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who headed the party’s electoral campaign, had failed.
“In politics, there will be ups and downs. It has happened in the past also. But we will have to fight, and Priyanka is a fighter," he said, adding that the country needs “Congress to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Hindutva agenda and (Prime Minister designate) Narendra Modi’s authoritarian nature."
The Congress party, which won 206 seats in the 2009 elections, has been reduced to 44 members in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
There has been criticism of Rahul Gandhi for his style of functioning, which many party leaders privately termed “disconnected".
On 16 May, when the results were announced, scores of Congress workers had demonstrated on the streets in the national capital demanding that Priyanka Gandhi take over the party.
Thomas said: “Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka should work as a single team and lead the party."
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