Panaji: Â Two days after showering heaps of praise on Narendra Modi, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh dropped an atomic bomb by saying that the Party Vice president Rahul Gandhi’s lacks a temperament suited to the ruling benches.
In an interview to a Goa cable news channel Friday and telecast Saturday, Digvijaya Singh also said Rahul should have taken up the responsibility of leading the party in the Lok Sabha and taking on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
“He is by temperament not a ruling person. He is by temperament someone who wants to fight injustice,” the Congress leader said.
Digvijaya’s statement comes at a time when Rahul as well as his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi have been criticised for lack of leadership skills by both Congressmen as well as party detractors.
The party general secretary who is in charge of Goa was in the state on a two-day visit to take stock of the party affairs and meet Pradesh Congress Committee members.
Digvijaya said he had suggested Rahul take up the role of the main opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, a responsibility given to Congress’ Karnataka stalwart Mallikarjun Kharge.
“In a democracy, opposition space is necessary. Since the Congress is the largest opposition group, our Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi should have taken up the responsibility,” he said.
On June 26, Digvijay Singh supported a ban on Cow Slaughter which received flaks from coalition partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Digvijaya Singh had said at a press conference that he was a “good Hindu” and wholeheartedly supports the ban.
Asked to respond to a resolution passed by an ongoing Hindu convention in Goa, seeking a ban on cow slaughter, Digvijaya Singh told reporters: “I, being a Hindu, support a ban on cow slaughter.”
He even went on to chart out a premise for banning slaughter of cows in India, dipping into Congress history as well as Mughal legacy to buttress his support for a cow slaughter ban.
“In the 1930s, banning of cow slaughter was part of the Congress party’s official resolution. In the Mughal regime too, slaughter of cows was banned,” he said. He added the royal family of Bhopal was also against cow slaughter.
Reacting on this NCP Goa  vice president Trajano D’Mello advised him to become a Hindu seer and quit politics.
“If he believes in that, he should become a Hindu sadhu and quit political life,” D’Mello said.
“If he is a good Hindu, then he should continue to follow Hinduism, but he should say Ram-Ram (goodbye) to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.”, D’Mello added.
(With inputs from IANS)