Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 25 : BJP State President Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday backed remarks made by former Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress party is a "family organisation" and that many Congress leaders are quitting the party for this reason.
The BJP leader further alleged that Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is Rahul Gandhi's "favourite" due to his financial support for the Congress leader's vacations.
Speaking at ANI, Chandrasekhar said, "Many Congressmen are leaving the party because the Congress party is a family organisation. Congress is a party which is focused only on protecting and helping a family, helping Rahul Gandhi's vacations. DK Shivakumar is the favourite of Rahul Gandhi because he is the one who finances Rahul Gandhi's vacations."
The controversy was triggered after Shakeel Ahmad, who recently parted ways with the Congress, launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of sidelining senior leaders and undermining internal democracy within the party.
Former Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad on Saturday alleged that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi wants to throw senior established leadership out of the party and replace them with young leadership that speaks well of him.
Speaking with ANI, Ahmad said that Gandhi has kept the youth Congress and NSUI together to achieve the same."Rahul Gandhi has kept the youth Congress and NSUI together as he wants to throw the senior established leaders out of the Congress party and replace them with leaders of the youth Congress and those who speak well of Rahul Gandhi," he said.
Shakeel Ahmed also claimed Rahul Gandhi is "uncomfortable" about collaborating with popular, veteran leaders.
"There are many leaders in Congress who have been politicians long before Rahul Gandhi became one. The day Rahul Gandhi ji won his first election, I won my fifth election. I believe he is uncomfortable sitting with those who don't think of him as their boss. I have felt this for a long time, but when you stay in party you don't say such things," Ahmad told ANI.
He also alleged that Rahul Gandhi has a sense of superiority because of his Nehru-Gandhi lineage.
"I used to tell him don't do this, don't do that. I think he used to feel offended that someone is telling me these things; I belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family. He feels that everything is given to Congress by his family," he said.
Ahmed also alleged, "There is no internal democracy in the Congress party...In the Congress party, whatever Rahul Gandhi says is final."