In a stinging attack on Congress leadership after the poll drubbing, ally NCP chief Sharad Pawar today said people "do not want weak rulers" but "strong and decisive" leaders like late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the youth have vent their "anger" through the ballot.
Noting that Congress has lost much ground in the assembly elections, he said the polls have raised questions that require serious thinking from "not only the Congress, but the rest of us too", becoming the first UPA leader to speak out his mind after Congress' debacle in four states.
"People need strong, decisive and result oriented leaders. They do not want weak rulers, but they want those who will formulate policies and programmes for poor and implement them with firmness," Pawar said in a statement
The youth played a big role in this polls that led to Congress' defeat, he said, adding, "The new generation.... have given a clear indication of their anger through ballot.
"They want leaders who are decisive about their stands and the policies that will benefit the people and do not hesitate to roll out such policies."
Cautioning that when such confidence is lacking in the rulers, other power centres are likely to spring, he said this was the "big lesson" to be learnt from the Assembly election results.
He said of late weak leadership at various level has given a rise to bunch of "pseudo activists" who has no connect with ground reality.
"It is observed that not only media but also people in government get influenced by these people. They come up with unrealistic ideas and impression gets created that they are representing people's feelings which is not true," he said.
The 73-year-old Maratha strongman did not take names, but it was apparent that the NCP chief, who left Congress in 1999 to form his own party, was expressing his views on the current leadership of the UPA's leading party.
He insisted that whenever there was a strong and decisive leadership, such forces never came to the fore.
"Take example of our late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She was strong and decisive. She took bold decisions such as nationalisation of banks or ending privy purses, which she implemented with conviction and firmness," he said.
