Don't air Congress' internal issues on public platforms, says Punjab CM

Amid reports of dissidence in the Congress after its poor show in the Bihar polls, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said the party's internal issues should not be aired publically.

Rejecting the charge of the Congress lacking inner-party democracy, he asserted that the party leaders and workers were free to take their grouses to the party chief or its working committee.

If you're a Congressman, you can go to the party president or the Congress Working Committee with any problem you may have with the party functioning. But you should not go out to air your grievances. If you want to do that, you can leave the party, said the Punjab chief minister.

In a statement here, Singh said he had learnt this lesson from late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when he was a Member of Parliament from the Congress.

Indira Ji had told me that internal party matters should remain within the party, and this still holds true for the Congress, he further said.

He said Congress president Sonia Gandhi has never penalised anyone for raising a voice of dissent and has instead made them members of various committees in the true spirit of democracy.

Rejecting the suggestion for change in party leadership after the Bihar poll debacle, Amarinder Singh said Sonia Gandhi will remain the leader as long as she wants, after which the new leader will be elected.

There is no need for change at this juncture, he said, adding one should not read too much in the Bihar poll verdict.

Pointing out that victory and defeat are part of the process of an actual democracy, which India fortunately has, the CM said unlike the American democracy, India has true democracy with political ups and downs as its part and parcel".

Recalling the time when the BJP had only two seats in Parliament, Singh said the Congress too can come back to power in 2024.