Act as mentors, not tormentors: Jairam Ramesh to senior Congress leaders

Senior Congress leader and former union minister Jairam Ramesh is out once again—asking for the exit of old guards in the party—which is being refurbished under the new president Rahul Gandhi ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Urging the seniors to act as "mentors and not tormentors", Ramesh appealed to Rahul to ensure that young leaders take over the reins before next year's Lok Sabha polls. He was speaking in Kolkata. Stressing the need for a new team for Rahul Gandhi, he said the Gujarat Assembly poll results was an indication that the party was making a comeback.

Earlier in 2015, he had created flutter asking those above the age of 60 to play an advisory role rather hanging as full time office bearers. "We must get the 30-year-olds and 40-year-olds in positions of prominence (in Congress). The time for 60-year-olds, 70-year-olds and 80-year-olds is over," Ramesh said. "You must reflect India. The median age in India is 28. So, there must be a generational shift, and there was a generational shift when Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister (in 1984)," he added. Ironically Ramesh's own age is now 63.

The comment has once again brought back the old guard versus gen-next battle that has come to be associated with Rahul's leadership. Asked if senior leaders in the party should bow out before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said, "There are young leaders like Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Gaurav Gogoi, Sushmita Dev, we should project them." Observing that the Congress is facing leaders like Modi and Amit Shah, who have "killer instincts", he said the Congress needs to deal with them in the language they understand. "The BJP led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee is totally different from the BJP led by Modi and Amit Shah. Both Modi and Shah are hitting at the very root of our culture and society," he charged.

Even though Gandhi has repeatedly stated that new dispensation in the party will be a mix of experience and youth, there is big question mark on the future of veterans like Motilal Vora, Janardan Dwivedi, and Ahmed Patel. There is big debate on who will become the political secretary of Rahul Gandhi. Ahmed Patel survived as Sonia Gandhi's political secretary for 17 years and was considered the third most powerful person after Sonia and Rahul.

Ramesh, however, suggested a graceful exit for senior leaders, saying there will not repeat of the way BJP treated its veterans like L. K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh etc.