Congress heading for doomsday: Scindia

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said the departure of Rahul Gandhi has left a vacuum in the party. Weeks ahead of the assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra on October 21, Khurshid said Congress may not be able to win the elections or ensure its own future.

Khurshid, a former Union Minister, is quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the 49-year-old Gandhi "left in a huff" and his mother Sonia Gandhi appears to be treating herself as a stop-gap until a new Congress chief is chosen, possibly after the October state polls.

"We haven't really got together to analyse why we got defeated. Our biggest problem is our leader has walked away," Khurshid was quoted as saying, adding that Rahul Gandhi still retained the allegiance of the party.

Recently, the Congress chief in Haryana, Ashok Tanwar, quit following a difference with the party's leadership over a choice of candidates. Ashok Tanwar was among the Congress's main campaigners in the party's bid to wrest power from the BJP in Haryana.

A revolt is also brewing in Maharashtra too. Sanjay Nirupam, a key state leader there, recently threatened to quit the party after his recommendations for its nominees were rejected by the party leadership. Congress General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia has stirred a controversy by telling mediapersons that the Congress needed introspection else the party is headed for doomsday.

"It is important to assess the situation in Congress in order to take the party forward," Scindia said. BJP national spokesperson Narendra Taneja said, "You need to exist on the ground to pose any kind of challenge but the Congress is just not there. The morale of their cadre is very low.

They have no leader and even the party doesn't know where Rahul Gandhi is." In the wake of Rahul facing criticism for "walking away" after the party's defeat, senior Congress member and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Chowdhury said that politicians like Gandhi who step down taking moral responsibility are rare in present-day politics.

"Yes, I have heard about the statements by certain leaders. I would just say, yes it would have been good if Rahul Gandhi stayed back as party president. But at the same time, we must also appreciate the example of moral accountability, he has set for everybody.

"Politicians like Rahul Gandhi, who step down taking the moral responsibility, are a rare breed in Indian politics. All of us should take lessons from him," Chowdhury, a five-time Lok Sabha MP said.