Sathe wants Priyanka in politics

Congress leader said it was about time Priyanka joined active politics to help Sonia and Rahul.

Asserting that she will be an additional factor,senior Congress leader Vasant Sathe on Sunday said it was about time Priyanka Vadra joined active politics to help mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul to bring the party to power on its own.

Priyankas children are grown up now and so that period is over. She has the charismatic appeal. She should join politics and along with Soniaji and Rahul launch a mass contact programme. If the party requests her now and wants her to join politics,she will. She cant force herself (into the party). She would not like to do anything to harm the interest of her brother, Sathe,a close aide of the late Indira Gandhi,told The Indian Express.

For the Congress to come back on its own,as happened during Indira Gandhis time,the Congress must go all out. That can happen only when Sonia,Rahul and Priyanka go to people and bring about mass contact. Today,the Congress is relying more and more on coalition politics. No one is thinking of bringing the Congress on its own strength, he added.

Underlining the prevalence of a sense of lethargy or complacency in the party,the senior Congress leader lambasted advisors and party office-bearers for promoting coalition politics. People who are advisors are not the people with mass appeal. Show me the persons,on the Working Committee or among Secretaries,who can mobilise even 10 persons. If they dont have mass appeal,their advice will centre around a practical approach,around coalitions. Lets join hands to be in power. But when you join hands,it is the other parties,which are benefited. The Congress is getting weaker and weaker through coalition politics, he said.

Incidentally,only last week R K Dhawan,another Indira loyalist,had cautioned Rahul against repeating his father Rajiv Gandhis mistake of surrounding himself with relatives and friends who had taken him for a ride.

Asked about the possible role of Priyanka in the organisation or the government,Sathe said,We must not think of who will gain,whether it is Rahul or Sonia. Let us first think of bringing back the Congress on its own feet. Today there is no question of division of fields (between Priyanka and Rahul). My emphasis is on mass contact to mobilise and motivate the people,which is not happening today. Rahul goes to villages,to tribal areas and individual homes. That is all right. But even then there is a lack of mass appeal and mass contact. Who can do that? Who has the charismatic appeal to mobilise the masses? These three. Let us not think of who will gain power.

Asked why Priyanka was needed for mass mobilisation,he said,I dont see any leader or person in the Congress who has that mass appeal. I still remember even persons who were unknown,like me,became leaders during Indirajis time. Priyanka is an additional factor. She has the charismatic appeal. Sonia and Rahul must make all efforts to mobilise people of the country through rallies and mass contact programmes. There are no short cuts. I am saying this on the basis of my past experience.