Union Min jumps into Congress feud, opines 'Anand Sharma's wake-up call is very late'

On Monday, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat weighed in on RS MP Anand Sharma's criticism of the Congress party's alliance with the Indian Secular Front. Observing that the crisis within Congress has now come to the fore, he opined that Sharma's wake-up call had come too late to make a difference. At the same time, he expressed hope that would knock some sense into the Congress party's leadership. Founded by influential Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui on January 21, ISF has been touted as a platform for Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis residing in the state.

According to Sharma, the tie-up with such parties is against the Congress party's core ideology, Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism. Asserting that this alliance needs to be approved by the Congress Working Committee, he made it clear that Congress cannot be selective in fighting communalists. Terming the endorsement of WB Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to the ISF tie-up as "shameful", Sharma asked him to issue a clarification. Hitting back at his colleague, Chowdhury affirmed that no decision has been taken without the central leadership's permission. As of now, ISF and the Congress party have been unable to seal the seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming West Bengal election.

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Anand Sharma calls for strengthening Congress

Anand Sharma is among the 23 leaders who had questioned the functioning of Congress and demanded elections at all levels of the party. However, the Congress Working Committee has failed to act on their demands so far. On February 27, he along with other dissenting leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari addressed a rally in Jammu where concerns were raised about the weakening of Congress. Calling for the strengthening of the Sonia Gandhi-led party across the country, Sharma stated that the young generation should be able to connect to Congress. 

Congress leader Anand Sharma remarked, "Congress has weakened in the last decade. Our voice is for the betterment of the party. It should be strengthened everywhere once again. New generation should connect (to party). We've seen good days of Congress. We don't want to see it weakening as we become older." 

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