Mani Shankar Aiyar gives up hope on Congress's chances in LS polls

New Delhi, Dec 10: Senior

leader

on Tuesday said the calls for introspection in the party in the wake of the latest assembly poll verdict in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are too late now and favoured a radical change in the unit.

Aiyar even predicted a loss for the grand-old party in the general elections next year. "Who can be even half-way realistic and expect the Congress to return to power?," the veteran leader told Reuters.

On Monday, Sharad Pawar, a former Congress leader and now the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party, an ally of the Congress, slammed the current leadership saying the recent results proved that the "weak rulers" were rejected.

The Congress needs to connect with grassroot-level workers

Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das said Aiyar's opinion was personal and not the party's stand. He, though, agreed that an introspection was necessary after the debacle.

Coming back to the introspection, Aiyar said the Congress had had enough recommendations like the Uma Shankar Dixit report in the 1980s and then the AK Antony introspection report more than a decade ago. They were accepted but nothing happened on the ground, Aiyar rued.

The leader said the Congress needed to connect with its grass root level workers to improve its prospects.

OneIndia News