BENGALURU: A day after his decision to quit the Congress caused a ripple in the party, the miffed former external affairs minister SM Krishna said, "Any political party that neglects seniors will have no future."
Addressing the media at his residence here, Krishna vented out his pain and ire at being allegedly neglected by the party leadership in recent years. He admitted that the grand old party had given him everything. "But my self-respect, pride and seniority are precious values. Generations can change, but values cannot change. I have quit Congress with immense pain and agony," he said.
When asked about reports of his retirement, Krishna shot back, "Retirement from active politics is not in my dictionary. Age is just a state of mind according to me. Age should not be a criteria for deciding what the situation needs. The ultimate test is your intent and capacity.
Expressing his displeasure at the growing clout of backroom boys in political parties, Krishna said, "For some time now, I feel Congress does not need me. It is depending more on managers. It does not want time tested leaders or workers like me. So I have taken a decision to move out."
He admitted that the ‘neglect’ had started with the way he was removed from the Manmohan Singh’s cabinet as the external affairs minister and later, the manner in which he was not re-nominated to Rajya Sabha in 2014.
Krishna rubbished speculations of eyeing for the vice president's post after quitting from Congress. "Have I gone mad to aspire for the vice president's post," he snapped back when asked about the reports. However, the former Karnataka CM refused to spell out his future course of action and just said that he would take his time and decide after consulting his well wishers and supporters.