Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury urges Salman Khurshid to discuss issues at party level

Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has defended former party president Rahul Gandhi and urged Salman Khurshid to discuss all issues at party level.

Senior party leader Salman Khurshid had on Wednesday said that former Congress President Rahul Gandhi "walked away" after party's Lok Sabha polls defeat.

"When the party has been going into election mood in states, these kinds of comments or utterances shouldn't work well for the party. Instead of uttering outside, Khurshid should have consulted and expressed himself inside the party," Chowdhury told ANI on Wednesday.

He said that he cannot subscribe to the view spelt out by Salman Khurshid.

"On many occasions, Rahul Gandhi had categorically stated that he felt that it was moral accountability of the Congress President to own up the defeat of the Congress. Accordingly, he thought it prudent to relinquish the chair of Congress president," Chowdhury said.

The Congress leader said that Gandhi had set a rarest of rare examples in the present political scenario by resigning from his post.

"Congress had suffered a poll debacle and the analysis has been continuing on. In each and every state, Congress leaders are examining and analyzing the reason for the party's defeat," he said.

When asked about Jyotiraditya Scindia's comments that party needs to self-introspect, Chowdhury said: "We are all undergoing the introspection, which is why after churning the entire situation, the All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) requested Sonia Gandhi to take charge of the party."

The Congress leader also slammed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for conducting 'Shastra puja' of Rafale fighter jet in France and termed it 'politics of antics'.

"We are witnessing the politics of antics. They are trying to portray that they have done this. But, this is the culmination of a process, which set out in the year 2007," Chowdhury added.

On Wednesday, senior Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Jyotiraditya Scindia had expressed concern over the current situation and future of the party.