Even if you want to quit, quell dissent in party first: Veerappa Moily to Rahul Gandhi

Moily also tells Gandhi that quitting now would undo all the 'efforts he has put into building the party in the last five years'.

A file image of Veerappa Moily | ThePrint.in

Bengaluru: Veteran Congress leader Veerappa Moily has called on party president Rahul Gandhi not to resign, adding that if Gandhi does wish to go, he should first quell dissent in the party. 

“Whatever his reason be, be it personal or emotional, if at all he wants to step down, he should first put the Congress house in order,” Moily told ThePrint.

Moily was referring to the internal strife within the Congress in states such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the desertions in Maharashtra and Telangana following the Lok Sabha poll rout.  It is here that Gandhi needs to take a  tough stand and take disciplinary action against those who have broken rules, Moily said.

The veteran Congress leader from Karnataka urged the party president to take a leaf out of his grandmother Indira Gandhi’s book in dealing with dissent.  Moily was then an MLA from Karkala, one of the assembly segments of that constituency.

“Deveraj Urs was heading the Congress party in Karnataka but he deserted it and wrote a letter, which was in bad taste, to Indiraji,” Moily said. “He wanted to collude with the opposition and remove Indira Gandhi. I went to Indiraji at midnight and  insisted that she take action against the dissidents as it was necessary to send a strong message to the cadre.  After much coaxing she did. I see the same trait in Rahul Gandhi and he should take a tough like her stand and act now.”

Following the Congress defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi had offered to quit as the party president but the Congress Working Committee (CWC) unanimously rejected his offer. Congress sources, however, say that Rahul is still quite determined to step down.

Stepping down now would undo efforts of five years

Moily further said that Gandhi stepping down now would be “anti-climatic”  to the efforts he has put in for the party. 

“For the last five years he has worked on building the party. The party cannot afford to lose another five years to be built by another person,” Moily said. “Rahul Gandhi has brought in a momentum and has become a big challenger to Narendra Modi. He should ensure that he maintains that momentum.” 

He added that those throwing their hats in the ring to succeed Gandhi were being opportunistic. 

Moily, who lost his Chikkaballapur seat to BJP’s  Bache Gowda, believes that the Congress can resurrect itself despite its poor election showing.  For that, he said, the Congress would have its state units.

“This is the only party that has stood the test of time,” he said. “Each time it has been on the verge of disintegrating, it has revived itself like a phoenix.”