'Step aside, take a break': Prashant Kishor's advice for Rahul Gandhi

Poll strategist said former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has been 'unsuccessfully' running the party for the last 10 years

With Congress and its allies pulling out all stops to ensure a good showing in upcoming general elections, political strategist Prashant Kishor has a piece of advice for Rahul Gandhi: step aside and take a break to revive the grand old party.

Kishor said that Rahul Gandhi has been “unsuccessfully” running the Congress party for the last 10 years, but is unwilling to step aside and let somebody else take the party reins.

“When you have been doing the same work for the last 10 years without any success, then there is no harm in taking a break... You should allow someone else to do it for five years. Your mother did it,” he said, referring to Sonia Gandhi's decision to stay away from politics after her husband Rajiv Gandhi's assassination and let PV Narasimha Rao take charge in 1991.

Kishor, who had devised a revival plan for the Opposition party but withdrew due to disagreements between him and its leadership, said that Gandhi scion's leadership style was "undemocratic". He further said that a crucial trait of good leaders globally is acknowledging their shortcomings and actively seeking to address them.

The poll strategist said, "But it seems to Rahul Gandhi that he knows everything. If you don't acknowledge the need for assistance, no one can help you. He feels he requires someone who can execute what he believes is correct. That's not feasible."

Talking about Rahul Gandhi's resignation as the Congress president after the party lost in the 2019 elections, Kishor said that the Lok Sabha MP had then stated that he would step back and let someone else take charge. However, in practice, he has acted contrary to his words, Kishor added.

He further said that the Congress and its supporters transcend any individual, and Gandhi should not insist that he alone must deliver for the party despite repeated failures.

On the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) ‘parivarwaad’ (family rule) comment at the Congress party, Kishor said, "Becoming a leader because of one's surname might have been an advantage in the post-Independence era but is a liability now."

He added. "Be it Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav or Tejashwi Yadav, their respective parties may have accepted them as their leader but people have not. Has Akhilesh Yadav been able to lead the Samajwadi Party to victory."

The poll strategist said that in the 2014 polls, the Congress, despite being in power, plummeted from 206 seats to 44, at a time when the BJP had limited influence. The Congress party, he added, grapples with "structural" flaws in its operations, which must be addressed for its success.