KOLKATA: Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury feels a section of young “overambitious” leaders is becoming increasingly restless and deserting the party due to the growing perception that it is not going to return to power at the Centre anytime soon.
Conceding that their exit might adversely impact the party “temporarily”, the veteran Congress MP, however, said party “discipline and ideology can’t be compromised to satisfy the individual aspirations of leaders who lack ideological commitment.
The Congress leader hinted at the possibility of some more young leaders quitting the party after the high-profile desertion of Jyotiraditya Scindia and rebellion by Sachin Pilot.
“There is a certain section of overambitious young leaders…..they are becoming restless and feeling they are not getting their due in the party and are looking for other options to satisfy their individual ambitions.
“This is happening due to a growing perception that as the Congress wont return to power (at the Centre) shortly, so the party wont be able to satisfy all their demands. So they are either jumping the ship or are planning to do so,” Chowdhury told PTI inan interview.
Talking about Scindia and Pilot, he said they were never neglected or given short shrift by the party.
He said there have been leaders with great potential in several political parties who did not get their due. “But did they leave their party to enjoy the fruits of power? The answer is no. The problem is the lack of commitment,” he said.
Chowdhury also rejected the claim that Jyotiraditya Scindia won Madhya Pradesh for the Congress as its campaign committee
chief for the assembly polls.
If that were the case, he would not have lost his Lok Sabha seat, the veteran Congress leader said.
Rajasthan, where Sachin Pilot has risen in revolt against chief minister Ashok Gehlot, has a history of change of guard every
five years, Chowdhury said.
“Had he (Pilot) been the only factor which led to our victory in the 2018 assembly polls we wouldnt have fared so badly in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Rajasthan, he said.
Scindia left the Congress with his band of loyal MLAs in March and joined the BJP, resulting in the fall of the Kamal Nath government and the saffron party’s return to power.
—PTI

Press Trust of India