Ex-Congress leader says party hasn't accepted Rahul Gandhi as leader, questions his leadership ability

New Delhi: Former Congress leader and Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh on Thursday attacked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and asserted that the party has not accepted him as a leader. 

Singh was talking to ANI when he launched a scathing attack on the Congress vice-president and questioned his ability to lead the grand-old party. 

He said that even the Congress party till today has not accepted Rahul Gandhi as its leader.

"The Congress Working Committee had decided in the 2013 Jaipur Conclave that in future Rahul would be handed over the charge of the Congress in place of Party President Sonia Gandhi. Till now, if Rahul has not been entrusted this responsibility then it means that there is fear in the Congress that if it is done then whatever is left in the party would be lost," said Singh.

Singh, who is a former Congress leader, said that even Congress leaders who meet him don't see any future of Congress.

"Though it has been three years I am with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but still many Congress politicians meet me. They are very demoralized and say they don't see any future of Congress."

Replying a question whether the Congress should look beyond Gandhi family, the former Congress leader said that even if one thinks beyond Gandhi family then there is no leader in the Congress who can lead the party.

On leadership crisis in the Congress, he said today's Congress is not the one it used to be as it fought 2014 elections just to win around 140 seats to form a coalition government.

"Congress is shrinking and its base is being weaker day by day. The perception in the country is that the BJP is alternative of the Congress that ruled country around for half century. This is the reason that former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah commented after the recently held Uttar Pradesh election results that opposition should prepare for 2024 general elections," said the Union Minister.