UNION Law Minister Salman Khurshid has said the root of the problems plaguing the Congress was the lack of ideological direction from its next generation leader Rahul Gandhi . Until now, he said,we have only seen cameos of his thought and ideas like democratising elections to the Youth Congress. But he has not weaved all of this into a grand announcement. Khurshid reacts to Express story as comments kick up row In a candid assessment of the chaos and inaction plaguing the Congress,Khurshid told The Indian Express: We need a new ideology. Reforms in the 1990s were an emergence of a new ideology. But today we need a ideology to be given by our next generation leader Rahul Gandhi to move forward. We have to be clear about what we want to go ahead with in the next elections. Until that happens,said the minister,it will be a holding operation for the party and government. A senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh,Khurshid also conceded that while Rahul was still reluctant to take charge,the Congress had no choice but to wait for him to make up his mind. I know some will call it sycophantic approach and all that,but the fact is that he is undoubtedly and unquestionably the No. 2 leader in the party. Yet he has not taken up the mantle or accepted a functional responsibility. He is so far not willing to accept the No. 2 position. In such a situation,we have to wait. This is a waiting time and till such direction comes,its all a holding operation, said Khurshid. However,he added that this should not stop the party from addressing certain political management issues. According to him,the clear distinction between governance and politics in the UPA-I government no longer existed in the present regime,even though the personalities involved are largely the same. In UPA II,governance and politics have all got intermingled. The props have got mixed up. Its a scattered
