Congress leader Acharya Pramod demands Priyanka Gandhi be made party president

Kapil Sibal, a few days ago had said that no efforts were being made to strengthen the party

Close on the heels of senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal's remarks that the party was no longer an ''effective opposition'', another senior leader of the Congress on Sunday demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be handed over the mantle of the grand old party.

Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who had contested on the party ticket against union defence minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 LS polls, said that millions of Congress workers across the country wanted Priyanka to be the party president.

''Keeping in view the current political situation in the country, millions of Congress workers want Priyanka Gandhi to be handed over the mantle of the party so that a mass countrywide public agitation be launched against the anti-people policies of the Modi government,'' Krishnam said in a tweet.

Krishnam, who was a well known Hindu seer and chief of the famous 'Kalki Dham' in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district, about 400 kilometres from here, had earlier also supported the Congress leaders, who had sought change in the party leadership at the central level.

UP Congress leaders appeared to be guarded while responding to Krishnam's demand and sought to play it down saying that it was up to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take a decision in this regard.

''Priyankaji is already the party general secretary and UP in-charge...all we want is that only a member of the Gandhi family is made president of the party....it does not matter if it's Priyankaji or Rahulji,'' remarked a senior state Congress leader when asked to respond to Krishnam's tweet.

Sibal had, a couple of days ago, said that Congress was no longer an ''effective opposition."