New Delhi: Striking a conciliatory note on the “age row” within the party, Congress leader Digvijay Singh yesterday said that only a combination of the “enthusiasm of the new and understanding of the old (Naya Josh and Purana Hosh)” can strengthen any organisation.
“For any organisation, be it a political or a corporate one, there is some sort of succession management and the new generation should get a chance to come forward. Young leadership should be built up at the district, state and national level, in Assemblies, in parliamentary seats and in AICC.
“Youths are always accommodated in the party and, in the process, senior leaders gradually go out, but it is always a mixed team. Youths should get a chance in the party. But it is always a mix of the enthusiasm of the young and the experience of the old which strengthens any organisation,” Singh said. The remarks came a day after another senior Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, Satyavrat Chaturvedi, said he would not like to take up any active post within the party after he turns 65 next year.
Also, Singh's comments come ahead of the proposed meeting of young AICC Secretaries on Saturday to discuss how to sharpen the Congress's attack on rival parties. The young secretaries had earlier shot off a letter to Congress's general secretary in-charge of Organisation, Janardan Dwivedi, expressing strong disapproval of its elders “going public with negative comments”.
Dwivedi had earlier said that leaders above 65 or 70 years of age should not hold active posts in politics although they can be entrusted with other responsibilities. The party had officially distanced itself from Dwivedi's remarks saying those were his personal views.
But Singh had backed Dwivedi on the remarks saying he, too, favours a “generational change in the party”. Chaturvedi's remarks yesterday had brought the age row back into focus. He said he had told the party leadership that he would not be taking up any active post within Congress after turning 65 in January of next year. Downplaying Chaturvedi's remarks, party spokesman Salman Khurshid (61) had said in a lighter vein that “I would have to see the calendar for myself”.
There are different views on the issue within the party. A senior party general secretary, speaking on condition of anonymity, today said that no blanket age bar can be put and if somebody is mentally and physically fit to discharge some responsibility, he may continue to do so. The remarks on a cut-off age for filling party posts come at a time when a number of senior AICC functionaries have either crossed 70 years of age or are approaching it with a reshuffle of the AICC due in a few months.
