Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has said that a “certain arrogance” had crept into the Congress party in 2012 which led to its downfall and added that he has to think about “egos” in ensuring a right blend of youth and seniority within the party.
“Any party in India that is power for 10 years, will run into a problem. It’s just natural. India is a complex country. Normally you don’t win more than a term in a row and we won two terms.
“The vision that we had laid out in 2004 was designed at best for a 10-year-period. It was pretty clear that by the time we had arrived 2010-11, it was already not working anymore,” Gandhi said during an interactive session at the University of California in Berkeley.
“The Congress party unlike the BJP and RSS is basically a conversation. Most of my work is sitting in a room listening to people and collecting all that information and coming out with a solution that makes everybody happy.
“So, the way we design policies, a vision is not by standing up there and saying…’This is what I think I am going to tell you and going to do’..We design a vision by having a conversation,” he added when asked where the party was falling short as an opposition party..
Gandhi also said: “Somewhere around 2012, a certain arrogance crept into the Congress party and they stopped having that conversation.”
“So, rebuilding the Congress party is a couple of things…One is designing a vision that India can use going forward..Make a transition and a smooth one, between senior people and younger people. You can’t just brush aside all senior people.
“You have to bring people together, put some new faces, some old faces. That’s a compromise,” he added.
He also said: “If you look at India from 2012..and we are to blame for at least 2-3 years…India has basically lost its vision. That conversation has to be had.”
About creating the right blend of youth and seniority within the Congress, Gandhi said: “My earlier approach was that one should push young people regardless. I still believe that as many young people as possible should be pushed forward.
“But, there is tremendous talent in the Congress party with some of our senior people,” he added.
“It’s really unfair to say that just because you happen to be slightly old we are not going to utilise you..So, it’s a mix..
“It’s trying to make both these systems work together..both young and old work together..You know how India works..there’s sort of egos and stuff like that,” he added.
