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New Delhi: The ruling Congress party has plunged into a crisis over a call projecting young parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate.
A stern official statement from the party, describing promoting Rahul as an act of sycophancy, has not gone down well with two senior ministers and at least two allies who have come out in the open supporting Rahul's claim to the top post.
Party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan read out a statement after Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee joined Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh in supporting Rahul's elevation.
"The Congress would like to put an end to all speculation, and states that it is not appropriate to spread such political speculation in this way. The UPA government, which includes the prime minister and his team, has done some great work over the last four years. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi have always kept away from any environment of sycophancy," the statement said.
Dramatic development
In a dramatic development, a hurt Arjun Singh drove down to Sonia's 10 Janpath residence for an unscheduled meeting, giving rise to speculation that he had gone there to complain against Natarajan indirectly terming him as a sycophant and may even offer to resign if the party did not disassociate itself from Natarajan's statement.
Arjun Singh, a known loyalist of the Gandhi-Nehru family, was the first senior minister to give a call to project Rahul as the prime ministerial candidate of the ruling coalition in the next general election due in a year by comparing him to his father, the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on Monday.
Allies Nationalist Congress Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam also lent their support to the first-time member of Parliament who was appointed party general secretary by his mother Sonia last year.
Mukherjee, who is virtually number two in the Manmohan Singh government, gave further credence to the popular demand of Congress workers by saying young people must get a chance at leadership.
"Everywhere new leadership is coming. If he [Arjun Sigh] has suggested there is nothing wrong in it. There is no controversy," Mukherjee said.
While lines seem to be drawn and a virtual war of words has started over the leadership issue, party circles suggest that it is not without reason that two veteran ministers, considered close to the Gandhi-Nehru family have come out in public over the leadership issue.
According to them, it could be part of a plan to send a message to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make way for Rahul on his own.
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