BHUBANESWAR: Even as Congress witnesses a sudden clamour for Rahul Gandhi taking charge as party president, former external affairs minister Natwar Singh on Tuesday dismissed him as a total failure.
"In politics, you need to have fire in the belly. Rahul Gandhi just doesn't have that. He takes the responsibility as a part time job. That is what is bringing the party down," he said.
Speaking at Odisha Literary Festival, 2014, the veteran politician lashed out at the Congress stating the 'durbari' culture is pulling the party into the dumps. Despite cutting a sorry figure of 44 in the Lok Sabha, there is no serious attempt for introspection. Nobody is asking any questions on the Gandhi family leadership. If the situation continues, the Sonia-led Congress will come down from 44 to four.
The former Congress stalwart, who had to resign from UPA-I Government over the food-for-oil scam in 2005 and is in news for his kiss and tell book 'One life is not enough', on Tuesday said he was the only person who had always questioned Sonia. And that could be a reason for his ouster.
Singh also appeared to stake claim for the present foreign policy directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I had met him on February 4 and asked him to start-off with neighbours who have been grossly neglected by Manmohan Singh government. Manmohan had not visited any neighbouring country in his entire double term barring Bangladesh, which he visited only in his ninth year," Natwar said.