Berkeley Sep 12 (IANS) Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has said that a "certain arrogance" had crept into the Congress party in 2012 which led to its downfall and added that he has to think about "egos" in ensuring a right blend of youth and seniority within the party.
"Any party in India that is power for 10 years will run into a problem. It s just natural. India is a complex country. Normally you don t win more than a term in a row and we won two terms.
"The vision that we had laid out in 2004 was designed at best for a 10-year-period. It was pretty clear that by the time we had arrived 2010-11 it was already not working anymore " Gandhi said during an interactive session at the University of California in Berkeley.
"The Congress party unlike the BJP and RSS is basically a conversation. Most of my work is sitting in a room listening to people and collecting all that information and coming out with a solution that makes everybody happy.
"So the way we design policies a vision is not by standing up there and saying... This is what I think I am going to tell you and going to do ..We design a vision by having a conversation " he added when asked where the party was falling short as an opposition party..
Gandhi also said: "Somewhere around 2012 a certain arrogance crept into the Congress party and they stopped having that conversation."
"So rebuilding the Congress party is a couple of things...One is designing a vision that India can use going forward..Make a transition and a smooth one between senior people and younger people. You can t just brush aside all senior people.
"You have to bring people together put some new faces some old faces. That s a compromise " he added.
He also said: "If you look at India from 2012..and we are to blame for at least 2-3 years...India has basically lost its vision. That conversation has to be had."
About creating the right blend of youth and seniority within the Congress Gandhi said: "My earlier approach was that one should push young people regardless. I still believe that as many young people as possible should be pushed forward.
"But there is tremendous talent in the Congress party with some of our senior people " he added.
"It s really unfair to say that just because you happen to be slightly old we are not going to utilise you..So it s a mix..
"It s trying to make both these systems work together..both young and old work together..You know how India works..there s sort of egos and stuff like that " he added.
--IANS
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