Sandip Dikshit attack on "elitist" culture in Congress

New Delhi, Feb 13: After his mother, Sandeep Dikshit today unleashed a fusillade on the way the Congress is run saying its "elitist" culture produces "arrogance" and it does not have "genuine" leaders.

The former MP from East Delhi and son of Shiela Dikshit cautions the party against becoming a "copy cat" of either BJP on issues relating to secularism or the AAP on economic issues. "50 per cent of seniors in the Congress is deadwood and 70 percent in NSUI and Youth Congress", Dikshit said pitching for bringing new people to the embattled party.

"The culture (in Congress) has become elitist and arrogance grows from it. Our cadres are uncomfortable in such a situation," he told PTI in an interview, days after the Congress whitewash in the Delhi Assembly elections on the back of a string of electoral losses from May last year.

Dikshit's attack comes a day after Shiela Dikshit attacked Ajay Maken, Congress' CM face in the Delhi polls, for the party's drubbing which was rejected by party leaders P C Chacko and Arvinder Lovely, prompting party President Sonia Gandhi to ask the leaders not to squabble in public.

He took no names in his criticism of the affairs in the party but it was an apparent dig at Vice President Rahul Gandhi when Dikshit said democracy does not start or end with holding party elections. "It starts with democracy of ideas allowing leaders to lead and democracy of action," he said. 50-year-old Dikshit, a two-term MP, said Congress will have to identify its best leaders and ideas, people's issues rather than party issues.

"What is very important is to bring new people into Congress. We have almost 50 per cent deadwood in senior Congress and 70 per cent in Youth Congress and NSUI."

PTI