Taking a serious note of the humiliating debacle in Assam and Kerala, senior Congress leader Kishore Chandra Dev on Monday said there is growing dissatisfaction among the cadres, who think the grand old party is promoting only those capable of raising funds.
"During my interaction with Congress men across the country, I came to know that party workers feel the party is promoting such people, who are capable of raising funds which has to be changed because honest people are not necessarily rich or capable of raising funds," Dev told ANI.
Stating there is a dire need to bring credible leadership, who could be held accountable, the Congress stalwart said, "A number of leaders have been working with the All India Congress Committee (AICC) [the party's apex body] for more than past 20-25 years and continue to working in the states where the party lost elections. They were not held accountable for the debacle rather they had been given extra responsibilities of other states."
"I want to say that party in-charge of various states are giving wrong feedback to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and (party) vice-president Rahul Gandhi for their own interests. Many a times, when some outsider joins the Congress, he has been projected ahead of loyal Congress workers," he alleged, while suggesting course correction within the grand old party.
Dev, however, said the Congress is the only alternative in the country.
"The Congress has historic responsibilities to fulfil. In our country, religion, language and caste are being used by divisive forces. But our country needs a liberal, social and democratic party, and only the Congress fulfils that criteria, Hence, the Congress Party is the only alternative," he added.
Stating that regional parties till date could not succeed in coming up at the national level, Dev said, "The Congress is the single national party in the country, which is having infrastructure in all states and union territories.