'Nehru-Gandhi Family Shall Remain Integral': After Quitting, Anand Sharma Talks About Cong's Revival

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, who resigned from the chairmanship of the party’s steering committee for poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, on Wednesday said the party needs an “inclusive and collective thinking and approach”. Stressing that the grand old party cannot be revived by having an ‘A’ group or ‘B’ group, Sharma called for collectiveness within the party.

Sharma said that the revival of Congress will be ensured if changes were brought in based on issues discussed by leaders in earlier party meetings.

“Numbers are not important. We have vacated large spaces in important states. We need to collectively work for revival,” said the senior Congress leader.

Sharma further said that the Nehru-Gandhi family is important and remains integral to the collective leadership of the party but “Congress does require inclusive and collective thinking and approach.”

Resigning from the chairmanship of the party’s steering committee for the state, Sharma said he was left with no choice after the “continuing exclusion and insults”.

In a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Sharma is learnt to have said he was not consulted on the planning for the assembly elections and cited several examples where he was not invited for discussions.

The resignation is a fresh setback to the Congress’ efforts to placate dissenters after another leader of the G23 grouping Ghulam Nabi Azad stepped down as chairman of the campaign committee in Jammu and Kashmir a few days ago.

State BJP president Suresh Kashyap on Monday claimed many other Congress leaders are feeling “suffocated” in the party and will soon follow suit. In a statement issued here, Kashyap said, “It is clear that Anand Sharma has taken this step due the insult he had faced in the Congress party.” Many Congress leaders are feeling suffocated in the party and are either leaving the party or resigning from important posts, he claimed.

The state BJP president and Shimla MP also claimed many more leaders in the Congress would follow in the footsteps of Anand Sharma soon. Sharma on Sunday resigned from the chairmanship of the party’s steering committee for the state, saying he was left with no choice after the “continuing exclusion and insults”.

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