Amid Congress crisis, Janardan Dwivedi resurfaces

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Janardan Dwiwedi emerged from a self-imposed hiatus on Tuesday amid the leadership crisis facing the Congress and suggested that Rahul Gandhi should form a committee for suggesting the name of the new Congress president.

Mr Dwiwedi, who is a former AICC general secretary said that the credibility of the panel holding informal discussions on selecting the new Congress chief would have been more if it was formally set up.

He also questioned the efficacy of any such group discussing the selection of next Congress President if it does not include senior leaders like A K Antony.

Senior Congress leaders like Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and Anand Sharma are meeting to try and find a consensus candidate to the position of Congress President.

Mr Dwiwedi claimed that Mr Gandhi was technically still the Conrgess President and once he forms the panel, it should hold discussions with workers and leaders before arriving at the name of the next Congress president.

He also praised Mr Gandhi for resigning as party president after the Lok Sabha poll results, adding it was an ideal for other Congress leaders to follow.

Meanwhile, as the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka plunged into more trouble, the Congress rushed senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and B.K. Hariprasad to Bengaluru to help sort out the issues.