Congress President Should be Elected by Consensus, Says Amarinder Singh

New Delhi: The new Congress president should be appointed through consensus and not election as it helps to bind the party and Rahul Gandhi is certainly up to it, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Sunday.

"Elections are always bitter and consensus keeps the party together. There should be a consensus on the party president.

"You don't have any bad blood. It is all happening in a happy way," he said in an interview. The organisational election process within the Congress party is underway and the new party chief has to be elected by October 15.

He, however, said his impression is that she feels she has done enough.

She has not had time off for the last 20 years, which is a long time, ever since she took over as party chief in 2017, Amarinder said.

Asked whether he prefers someone other that a member of the Gandhi family to lead the party, he said traditionally the Congress has been headed by a member of the Nehru Gandhi family.

From Motilal Nehru to Jawaharlal Nehru and then Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, except for some leaders in between, he said.

"I am going to vote for Rahul. Who else do we have," he said.

He said all states have regional parties and regional leaders and everyone knows if they win, who will be the chief minister. This was not the case earlier when it was Jan Sangh or Congress.

"So you should have to have a face. Congress must come down to this point. If Himachal is tomorrow, then who is the face. This is very important today," he said and cited his own case.

"You cannot write off Congress like this. I am sure other states must be having leaders also," he said.

On the current state of affairs in the Congress, which has lost one election after another except Punjab, the state chief minister said he is not worried about the situation as the country moved in a cycle, which will soon reverse.

"Today there may be an upswing for BJP, but who knows two years hence," he said.

Amarinder said India has so many problems and people are hoping for somebody who does better and if one does not deliver, they choose the other the next time.

"This was when Indira Gandhi lost, Sanjay Gandhi and I also lost. Then suddenly in two years we bounced back again. I am not worried about this. This is a cycle that happens in this country," he said, recollecting times when Indira Gandhi was at the helm.