K C Deo blames ‘rootless wonders’ for Congress rout

Congress would not have come to such a pass had the party ensured implementation of half the promises made by Rahul Gandhi after he became vice-president.

Lashing out at “rootless wonders and spineless creepers” for his party’s plight, senior Congress leader Kishore Chandra Deo Sunday said the Congress would not have come to such a pass had the party ensured implementation of half the promises made by Rahul Gandhi after he became vice-president.

Deo, an outgoing union minister who lost the Lok Sabha polls after being elected for five terms, urged party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul to introspect on how to “emancipate the grand old party from rootless wonders and spineless creepers, who held sway for more than two decades and brought the party to such a pass”.

In an interview to PTI, Deo recalled Rahul had said much at Jaipur about transforming the organisation, after he became party vice-president “If 50 per cent of it was decided by the party, this situation would not have arisen”.

Story continues below this ad

Alleging there was a “stranglehold” of one to two dozen people on the party and its leadership, Deo made a strong pitch for Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to work to “free the Congress from these chains and shackles.”

The outgoing Tribal Affairs Minister said there was a “credibility crisis” in the wake of price rise, corruption and scams. The party and the government failed to counter propaganda agains it, he said.

Making a serious charge on the state of party affairs in Seemandhra, he alleged the “Congress was politically mortgaged and sold out to Jagan’s YSR Congress and its fifth column.”

Alleging mismanagement, Deo said while the understanding of the political situation was “poor”, the AICC-in-charge for the state gave a “wrong briefing” to the Congress president.

Story continues below this ad

He said even notes he sent on various issues to the party chief had “no effect at all”.