Expressing his concern over Rahul Gandhi's exit, the former External Affairs Minister said the leader left in a huff after the party's defeat in national elections, while his mother, Sonia Gandhi, stepped in on an interim basis. Khurshid said he was not happy with the temporary arrangement put in place by the party by appointing Sonia as the interim president. "It's kind of left a vacuum," Khurshid was quoted by Associated Press news agency as saying. "Sonia Gandhi stepped in, but there is more than an indication that she is treating herself as a stop-gap arrangement. I wish it wasn't so."
He further said it is high time the party “analyse the reasons” for its defeat to understand the message of the verdict. "We haven't really got together to analyze why we got defeated. Our biggest problem is our leader has walked away," Khurshid said, adding that Rahul Gandhi still retains the allegiance of the party.
Congress won only 52 of the 542 parliamentary seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, compared to 303 won by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party faces crucial tests on October 21 when Haryana and Maharashtra go to polls.
After the defeat in May, Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president and his mother, Sonia Gandhi, stepped in on an interim basis.
Recently, the Congress chief in Haryana, Ashok Tanwar, quit following a difference with the party's leadership over a choice of candidates. Ashok Tanwar was among the Congress's main campaigners in the party's bid to wrest power from the Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana.
Meanwhile, a revolt is also brewing in Maharashtra. Sanjay Nirupam, a key state leader there, recently threatened to quit the party after his recommendations for its nominees were rejected by the party leadership.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi lost his own seat, Amethi, which for long had been a Congress party bastion, in Uttar Pradesh. However, he won a seat from Wayanad in Kerala.