New Delhi: Rahul is a reluctant politician like his father Rajiv Gandhi and has his "limitations" as he has not been groomed for the job unlike his father whom Indira Gandhi herself groomed, says veteran Congress leader ML Fotedar in his yet to be released book "The Chinar Leaves".
Fotedar, who rose to become a Union Minister, also makes critical remarks about Sonia saying despite her many virtues, political management is not one of them and her obsession to promote Rahul further created problems in the party.
Amid a raging debate on when Rahul would take over the reins of Congress, Fotedar, in the HarperCollins publication, says Rahul had a "certain stubbornness" and his motivation to become a leader was "not very strong".
"Rahul Gandhi's leadership is unacceptable to the people of this country and Sonia Gandhi has her best years behind her. The party has no one to provide direction. It refuses to learn.
"It has made wrong choices while appointing opposition leaders in both Houses of Parliament. It has made wrong choices about how to deal with the challenges in the Assembly elections. In fact, there is nothing right which the party has done or is doing. It saddens me that the Nehru?Indira legacy has reached a cul-de-sac," he said.
He goes on to add that "Since Soniaji still is the unchallenged leader of the party, it should be her responsibility to reinvent the party. Blaming Rahul in a way is shifting the blame from the Congress president to someone who has yet to display his leadership skills.
"History is threatening to repeat itself. It is a matter of time before Soniaji's and Rahul's leadership is challenged from within the party. I will be observing closely how they stand up to this looming challenge, because Sonia is not Indira and Rahul is not Sanjay," the Congress leader said.
On Sonia, the former Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist said she will go down in history as the longest serving Congress president "even if not the most distinguished".
