Congress not ‘directionless’, clarifies Khurshid

New Delhi: After being pulled up and asked to explain by the Congress party following his critical remarks on Rahul Gandhi, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said his remarks have been misinterpreted. Asking the media and others to see his remarks in positive context, Khurshid said his remarks had been distorted and he never said the Congress was “directionless”. Stating there was no scope for controversy, the minister said “upon reflection I feel that we should discuss such issues not with the media but only at party fora”. Stating that “we all want to prepare for future challenges”, Khurshid said he was confident the government will be able to showcase its work to the electorate in the next elections. He stressed that “Rahul Gandhi is our leader”, adding “I don’t want to explain any further”. The clarification came after Khurshid, while speaking toThe Indian Express, blamed lack of “ideological direction” from Rahul Gandhi as the root cause of problems which the Congress party is facing today. Khurshid had said, “Until now, 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. This is a period of waiting.” Khurshid had also admitted that Rahul was still not ready to take complete charge. “The fact is that he is undoubtedly and unquestionably the number two 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 number two position. In such a situation, we have to wait. This is a waiting time,” Khurshid said. He had also taken a dig at the Prime Minister’s ability to address issues dealing with “political management”. “In UPA II, governance and politics have all got intermingled. The political props have got mixed up. It’s a scattered situation. “The stage has to be set up again and only the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) can do it. She is the one who has the stature. The Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) can then run the government, but he cannot set the stage,” he had said.