Web Report
NEW DELHI — Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has said that Rahul was still not mature and should be given (more) time. She was responding to the question as to why the Congress has been decimated in several states despite aggressive campaign by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
In an interview to The Times of India, Dikshit, while underlining that Congress is undergoing a “generational change” and that political language too has changed over the past few years, said: “You see, we are going through change. It is both a generational change and a change in politics from what it was till a few years back. The political language has changed quite a lot. For instance, you would not expect the PM to say what he said about former PM Manmohan Singh. In this change of approach, link, language and relationships, Congress is adjusting itself. And please remember Rahul is still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature. He is what… in his forties. Please give him time. Having said all this, Congress believes in development of the weak and marginalised. Rahul is the only one who has spoken about farmers.”
Defending Rahul further, Dikshit said she believed he has come a long way. “He is not yet prime minister because that opportunity will come later but he is doing things. He is attending meetings and he is one person who is known to speak his mind. I feel it is good that he is natural but if some feel that it is not so then one develops it on the way,” she added.
However, after initially suggesting that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi lacks political maturity, former Delhi chief minister on Friday backtracked, urging people not to twist her words.
Responding to media reports, Dikshit tweeted: ”Rahul has the sensitivity and concern of a mature leader. His words are those of a young, courageous and restless man.”
Rahul Gandhi is campaigning aggressively in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh these days, where the party has stitched an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. The 79-year old leader Dikshit, who was earlier announced as the chief minister face of Congress in the state, withdrew her name after both the parties formed an alliance in the state.
(With inputs from Zee News, Indian Express)
