Rahul's leadership never been challenged, hope he'll become Cong president again: Bhupesh Baghel

Senior Congress leader and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said Rahul Gandhi's leadership has never been challenged in the Congress and hoped that he will be at the helm once again in the near future.

The remark comes amid reports of Rahul's close aides in the party being allegedly targeted and senior leader Salman Khursid's statement about a leadership "vacuum" that caused a flutter in the Congress.

"It has been recorded in history that even Indiraji was challenged in the party over leadership. Rajivji and Soniaji were challenged too. But there was never a challenge to Rahul Gandhi's leadership," Baghel told PTI in an interview here, before concluding his week-long 'Gandhi Vichar Yatra' in the state.

"Neither any worker nor any leader has ever questioned his leadership," he said.

On reports that Rahul's close aides in the party were being targeted, Baghel said, "If someone has made a statement at a personal capacity, then there is no need to give importance to it."
Asked if he hoped that Rahul Gandhi would become the Congress president again in the near future, the chief minister said, "He will definitely be."
Referring to his yatra taken out to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Baghel targeted the BJP and the RSS, claiming, "Their nationalism is completely opposite to Bapu's nationalism."
He said, "I want to ask RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is his nationalism not inspired by Hitler and Mussolini?"
"There is a slowdown in the country but we do not have it here. It is because we have strengthened the poor and the farmers financially. Vehicle sales grew 13 per cent. Since last December, there has been an increase of 84 per cent bullion sales."