State of Congress won't have been this bad had Priyanka led party: Rahul's former aide Pankaj Shankar

Former aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Pankaj Shankar on Sunday said that the state of Congress would not have been so bad if Priyanka Gandhi had led the party.

"Not only me, ask any Congress worker across the country or anyone in opposition, they will also agree that the state of Congress party would not have been so bad if Priyanka Gandhi had led the party," Shankar told ANI here.

Shankar said that Rahul Gandhi has been in politics for 15 years now.

"He came into active politics in 2004. It is 2019 now. There have been experiments in the Youth Congress and the National Students' Union of India (NSUI). The election result in Amethi was also not in their favor. What will be the next experiment? Only the party is left now," he said.

Indirectly criticising Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for letting Rahul Gandhi lead the party, Shankar said in Hindi: "Putramoh Hi To Hai Yeh", which roughly translates to 'this is only the love for son'.

He said that under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, the Congress party has fallen from three digits to two digits in the seat count. "Everyone knows about it. It is an internship, which isn't concluding," added Shankar.