Considering her ill health, Congress president Sonia Gandhi should step down instead of making the party fall sick and help the BJP in its "Congress- mukt Bharat" project, party's former Goa unit chief John Fernandes has said.
Fernandes' statement, however, was rejected by the state party unit saying "he (Fernandes) should not be taken seriously."
"If Sonia Gandhi is sick, she should not make Congress fall sick.... (she) should also not help (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi make a Congress-mukt Bharat," Fernandes told reporters here yesterday.
He said, "It is high time Sonia Gandhi hands over the leadership responsibility to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi."
Fernandes, who headed the Congress in Goa in 2014 before being replaced by Luizinho Faleiro, is a former Rajya Sabha member.
He also slammed the Congress high command for not convening the session of All India Congress Committee for three years, after the party's defeat in the 2014 general elections, which he said would only harm the party.
"The Congress should not be sick. The Congress can bounce back, if there are workers like me and we work together," he said.
Fernandes said the results of the Goa assembly elections are an indicator that the party can make a comeback.
Goa Congress spokesperson Sunil Kawathankar said Fernandes should not be taken seriously.
"Any individual should not feel that his or her opinion is binding on the honorable Congress president," Kawathankar said.
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