Former Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit has backed the imminent elevation of party vice president Rahul Gandhi to replace his mother Sonia. Dikshit claimed that seniors Congress leaders were ready to step down in favour of Rahul and his team.
"I think it's a decision of the party. The time is right for Rahul to take over. If the decision has been taken, it needs to be implemented and that choice also will be with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. It is Sonia Gandhi's decision now to hand the baton to somebody else and that happens to be Rahul Gandhi which is fair enough," Dikshit, who was the chief minister of Delhi thrice, said.
Praising Rahul's strategy for joining a coalition in Bihar, Dikshit said, "The coalition that they brought about in Bihar was a step taken by him and it was a successful step. His strategy in Bihar worked."
According to Dikshit the 45-year-old Rahul is a young leader and he would make some mistakes. “I don't see his mistakes visibly but circumstantially. He may have made some mistakes but he has learnt from them," she said.
With Rahul taking over, there will be a generational change in the party as well. He, like any leader, would like to have people around him with whom he is most comfortable with and those who represent his era.
"He does want a younger team, one that is more in tune with his ideas. That does not mean that it is a break, the continuity will always be there," Dikshit added. She also brushed aside the rumours that seniors would be sidelined in the party.
"To think that he will wash off completely all the seniors from the party, I don't think that is Rahul's intention at all. We all seniors feel that we have contributed to the party enough and if someone else wants to take charge, we are willing. That is the general attitude and I'm sure everyone will welcome it. I welcome it too," Sheila said.
Many senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Captain Amarinder Singh have already argued that the time has come for Rahul to take over the reins from his mother.
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