Lack of clarity on top leadership after Rahul Gandhi's resignation hurting Congress: Shashi Tharoor

Even weeks after Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post of Congress party chief, the grand old party has yet not decided on who will be its new president. Reacting to it, senior party leader and MP Sashi Tharoor on Sunday said that that the lack of clarity over leadership is hurting the party.

"It is certainly quite true that the lack of clarity at the top of the party is likely to be hurting the Congress workers and sympathisers, many of whom miss the fact of having a party leader to look to for key decisions, authority and even inspiration and energy, to rally together and move forward," the MP said.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP added that the way forward for the party could be opening up all key posts, including the CWC membership, to fresh elections which would help legitimise the incoming set of leaders.

"One way forward could be for the CWC to name an interim working president for the party and then ideally dissolve itself, following which the main leadership positions within the party, including the CWC itself, should be opened up to fresh elections," the former Union minister said.

"By allowing members of the party, drawn from the AICC and PCC delegates, to determine who will lead the party from these key positions, it would help legitimise the incoming set of leaders and give them a credible mandate to lead the party," he said.

He also backed Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's assessment that a young leader would be more suitable to lead the Congress at this juncture.

"In these circumstances, one would definitely like to believe that a younger leader, who has not been jaded by playing these roles for too long, would be in a better position to do both," he asserted.

Tharoor pointed that party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will throw her hat in the ring when the call for elections for the party chief's post is made, but added it was up to the Gandhi family to decide if she will contest for the post.