Milind Deora criticises Rahul Gandhi advisers for polls defeat

Former union minister Milind Deora blamed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s advisers for party’s pathetic electoral defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. He also said that “the people who take the advice also have to bear responsibility”.

Deora said Rahul Gandhi alone cannot be blamed as “it was not about one person’s image but the people surrounding that person also”.

“The question is whether the set of advisers had their ears to the ground… There were strong murmurs in the party that people who are calling the shots are people with no electoral experience… no stature, standing, respect and credibility in the party. They were in charge of important departments and held key positions. This whole group of people did not listen to what party cadres and MPs were saying. They did not allow diverse opinion to come through… and  shut out a lot of people. Many of us knew the party has become unresponsive. Had the system been more open and accomodative and had the diverse opinions been openly heard, corrective measures could have been taken,” Deora told The Indian Express.

Deora admitted that “series of things have been going wrong for a long time”.

“I don’t think blaming the campaign alone is the right way to look at it. We went wrong in many areas. From the point of view of the party, government, communication, coordination in the party, coordination between the party and government — in all of these areas we were going wrong drastically… There were things unfolding for a long period of three years,” Deora said.

“A lot of us felt our voices were never heard. We felt our voices don’t matter. This has to change. The MPs and ministers should not feel we are being not heard,” he added.

“It is not the advisors alone. The people who take the advice also have to bear responsibility. Those who gave advice and those who received the advice as also those who feel they can give better advice — all have to bear responsibility,” said Deora, while refraining from taking any names.

In another interview with CNN-IBN, Deora told, “Everyone needs to share the blame, especially those who felt they had value to add but kept quiet for the past two to three years when things weren’t going well. Those who were silent are to be blamed as much as those who were giving wrong advise.”

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