File photo of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally in Ranchi
With the Congress reeling under a string of poll defeats, senior leader Digvijaya Singh today said party vice-president Rahul Gandhi should assume "full-time" leadership of the Congress.
"All Congressmen today want Rahul Gandhi to take over full-time leadership of All India Congress Committee," the party general secretary said in Bhopal, unfazed by the Congress having distanced itself from a similar suggestion made by him last month in which the party described it as his "personal view".
Mr Singh, however, said Congress president Sonia Gandhi will continue to remain "our leader".
"I am sure if given an opportunity, he will perform well. As far as Congress President Sonia Gandhi is concerned, she will remain our leader. Under her leadership Congress has achieved miraculous success. From just two states at one point of time, the party went on to form government in 14 States. Also, Congress stormed to power at the Centre in 2004 and again won elections in 2009," Mr Singh said.
"But now the time has come for Rahul Gandhi to take charge of the party. All Congressmen will support him," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Mr Singh had stirred a controversy last month when he said Rahul should take charge of Congress from his mother, a suggestion which had not gone down well with the party leadership.
"Whatever Digvijaya Singh has said is his personal view. The Congress party has always taken a collective view when it comes to strengthening of the organisation or in the interest of the country," party spokesperson Anand Sharma had said.
Asked how to bring about the Congress' revival, Mr Singh said the party has to "expose" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership's "false" promises made to the people.
Rahul Gandhi should corner the BJP and connect to the masses, he said.
After winning just 44 seats in the April-May Lok Sabha elections, its lowest tally ever, the Congress lost power in Maharashtra and Haryana and fared poorly in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls after snapping ties with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the National Conference respectively.