Congress internal crisis grows; now, Sushil Kumar Shinde says party's tradition of 'debates, dialogues ended'

File image of Sushil Kumar Shinde (Source: PTI)

The intra-party crisis, which has plagued the Congress since its consecutive loss in general elections, has further intensified with senior leader Sushil Kumar Shinde now marking his dissent. According to Shinde, the party has discontinued its tradition of holding debates and dialogues.

Shinde, a former Union Minister and ex-Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, said the party needs to introspect over its policies, and resort to a course-correction if necessitated.

"Congress tradition of holding session on debates and dialogue has ended today. I feel sad about it. Introspection meetings are required," CNN News 18 quoted him as saying.

"Our policies may be wrong, but to make them correct, such sessions are needed," he added.

Notably, Shinde is not among the Congress' G-23 leaders who had openly marked their dissent in a letter written to party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi last year.

The G-23 group, which includes party veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal, among others, had called for a top-to-bottom overhaul to improve the party's functioning and renew its connect with the masses.

Shinde's critical remarks come at a time when the party is battling a major 'infighting' in poll-bound Punjab. Party leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has been camping in Delhi to register his grievances against Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh with the Congress high command.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena, an ally of the Congress in Maharashtra, said the latter should introspect the reasons behind Shinde's outburst.

"If Sushil Kumar Shinde has said something, party should discuss the issue as he is one of the senior-most Congress leaders and he has done so much for the party," Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said.