Congress should introspect, seek inspiration from past stalwarts, says Hardeep Puri

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday slammed Congress over its "ideological and leadership problems", saying that party should seek inspiration from its past stalwarts.

Puri said Congress should "seriously introspect" where it stands today.

"If not from someone else, Congress should seek inspiration from its own stalwarts of the past. Mired in nagging ideological and leadership problems the party should seriously introspect where it stands today," Puri tweeted.

Citing the example of the Indian freedom struggle leader Dr Annie Besant, Union Minister said, "It can turn to a foreign-born Dr Annie Besant who loved India and was a nationalist."

Puri also quoted Dr Besant in his tweet: "The argument that Democracy is foreign to India cannot be alleged by any well-informed person."

Besant was a British woman who fought for India's independence and worked extensively as a social reformer.

This comments were made in the backdrop of a recent letter written by a group of senior Congress leaders to interim president Sonia Gandhi demanding sweeping reforms in the party.

( With inputs from ANI )