NEW DELHI: With questions being raised by senior leaders over the party’s performance in the Bihar elections and bypolls, senior leader Salman Khurshid on Tuesday took a dig at such party colleagues calling them “doubting Thomases” who suffer periodic “pangs of anxiety”.
In a Facebook post that started with an Urdu couplet of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, Khurshid said if the mood of the electorate is resistant to the liberal values the party has espoused and cherished, it should be prepared for a long struggle rather than look for short cuts to get back into power.
Citing the last Mughal ruler’s couplet which talks about looking within for flaws that would make one not see others as flawed (...padi apni buraiyon par jo nazar to nigah mein koi bura na raha), he said Bahadur Shah Zafar’s words might be a useful companion for many of our party colleagues who suffer “periodic pangs of anxiety”.
Khurshid’s comments came even as the advisory group constituted to assist Congress chief Sonia Gandhi met and discussed the party’s performance with state in-charges.
With senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19, five of the six members, including A K Antony,
Ambika Soni, K C Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik and R S Surjewala, attended the virtual meeting. Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil, Gujarat in-charge Rajeev Satav and Manipur in-charge Bhakta Charan Das also joined the meeting. The meeting lasted for around three hours.
The meeting came in the backdrop of senior party leaders Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha seeking serious introspection following the recent Assembly election drubbing. Sibal’s comments were criticised by Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, saying it would demoralise party workers.