Congress on Kishore Chandra Deo remark: Rahul Gandhi not surrounded by coterie

Deo had on Sunday said the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president was a non-issue as the real issue was dismantling of the “oligarchy” in the party.

The Congress on Monday said its vice-president Rahul Gandhi was not surrounded by a coterie, a day after former Union Minister Kishore Chandra Deo alleged  that “oligarchs” in the party are misguiding the Congress president and the vice-president. He had suggested that the need of the hour was to dismantle the oligarchy in the party to make it fighting fit.

“From where he (Deo) got this information? It is speculation…not a charge. Rahul Gandhi is not surrounded by any coterie. We are all with him. When we are all with him, you say he is surrounded by a coterie. When we are not with him, you say he is left alone. We are with him and we support him,” party spokesperson Sushmita Dev told reporters here.

Deo had on Sunday said the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president was a non-issue as the real issue was dismantling of the “oligarchy” in the party. He said that the “oligarchs” in the party are the ring of leaders around the party president and vice-president and many of them have developed a “vested interest.”

These oligarchs, he had said, have been raising the question of leadership to deflect attention from the core issue of their “shortcomings” which led to party’s electoral debacle.