Jay Panda takes potshots at Khurshid over 'Congress directionless' remark

New Delhi, July 10 (ANI): Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Jay Panda on Tuesday said the statement made by Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid in an interview to a national daily is a well known fact.

However, Panda regarded it as an internal affair of the Congress party.

"Khurshid, a senior Congress leader, himself feels that the party is directionless and obviously it is not for me to comment. That is their internal party business, but the fact that India has been suffering due to lack of governance is not a secret," said Panda.

"I think everybody knows that from recent year's development connected to so many scandals and so many other problems, the underperformance of the economy. I think it is a well known fact," he added.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain speaking on similar lines said that although Khurshid had asked Gandhi for a new ideological orientation, his leadership and campaigns in the recent polls to a couple of state legislatures, had been utter failures.

"It is true that Khurshid has asked Rahul to lead the way and hailed him but Rahul's experiments in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have failed badly," he said.

Khurshid, however, today blamed the media for wrongly interpreting what he had said during an interview to a newspaper on Monday.

"My party has to give strength to the government. The party is the base of the government and the party, despite the disappointments that it has faced in few places, is absolutely determined to ensure that we put the best possible step forward to face the challenge that we face today," said Khurshid.

"In that context, my urging of young and new leadership of our party to prepare themselves to lead from the front, to prepare themselves to take on the challenge of our times is something you must see in the right context rather than in the negative context," he added.

Khurshid said that he wanted to make it clear the media reactions will persuade him or convince him to say that he should not discuss these things in the presence of media, but discuss within the party.

"I, on reflection, feel this (discussion about leadership) is something which we should restrict to within our party forum," he said.

Khurshid further said those in the government and in the Congress are making constant efforts to have a dialogue with the media to make available the best information with transparency.

"But obviously every time, that we reach out to you, talk to you, it is for you to a decision to make. Are you going to see that in a positive light? Or are you going to project it in a negative light?" he asked

"My urging and my request to you is please read it (remarks) in a positive context because we are determined as a government to face the global challenges that have an impact here as well and those local domestic issues that have arisen, we will face them with confidence," he added. (ANI)