Congress High Command Concept Has Reached Its 'Expiry Date': Shashi Tharoor Talks About His Plan For Party's Revival

Before filing his nomination for the post of Congress President, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor spoke to ABP News about the Congress high command and issues pertaining to the party.

New Delhi: Senior leader Shashi Tharoor, who filed his nomination for the post of Congress President on Friday, said that the problem with the party is its Delhi-centric decision-making.

In an exclusive interview with ABP News, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said that the power structure in the Congress party is that of an "inverted pyramid" and all decisions were being taken in Delhi as opposed to a distribution of power.

Shashi Tharoor On High Command

Shashi Tharoor said that it took several years for the high command culture of Congress to come up and it worked for a while. "Probably, the concept has reached an expiry date because several leaders have left the party like Ghulam Azad, Kapil Sibal, Jyotirdaditya Scindia, and RPN Singh. When so many people are unsatisfied and there are several issues in the party, it is time to adopt a new model." 

Shashi Tharoor's Plan To Revive Congress

On his revival plan, the Congress leader told ABP News that there is a need for de-centralisation within the party. He sought to empower workers at the grassroots level and said that the high command should meet party workers before decision-making. "When major decisions are taken, they need to discuss it with leaders before. Working Committee should perhaps meet every month instead of a few times in the year," the Kerala MP added.

Shashi Tharoor On G-23 Faction

When Tharoor was asked about G-23 ie the angry faction of Congress, he replied saying, there was no such organisation. "Senior Congress leaders wrote a letter during the COVID lockdown. All the people who were in Delhi had signed that letter. At that time only 23 people were in Delhi, hence it was 23 leaders. It could have been more." 

Tharoor mentioned that many leaders who signed that letter have left the Congress party. "I have always given many suggestions to the Congress high command and said that reform is needed within our party. I had raised questions even before G-23," he added.

Besides Tharoor, senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination for the post of Congress President at the office of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in the national capital. Jharkhand leader KN Tripathi also filed his nomination for the party's topmost position.