Congress in such poor state even Sonia Gandhi opted for Rajya Sabha route to Parliament: Chouhan

'All top leaders have backtracked after seeing Madam (Sonia Gandhi) herself not contesting election. The Congress is a sinking ship,' said former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

Bhopal: The Congress is in such a bad situation that even leaders like Sonia Gandhi are taking the 'backdoor' Rajya Sabha route to reach Parliament, instead of contesting Lok Sabha polls, said former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday.

Rahul Gandhi's decision-making is full of confusion and the opposition party is not getting candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, which the BJP will win with a record mandate, he told reporters.

"Rahul Gandhi is a captain who does not know what to do and when. When he should be preparing for polls, he goes on yatras, while he goes abroad when he needs to go on yatras. Then, after defeat he will shout about EVMs," said Chouhan, who is contesting the general elections from Vidisha.

"Thoughtful leaders of the Congress are leaving the party seeing its poor condition. After losing one election after the other, the situation is so bad that even Sonia Gandhi refused to contest elections and took backdoor entry through Rajya Sabha. Now one can imagine what will happen to a party whose supreme leader's confidence has been shaken," Chouhan claimed.

After 2014, the Congress has lost 50 polls, with even Rahul Gandhi getting defeated in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, he added.

"There is a dearth of candidates in the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls. All top leaders have backtracked after seeing Madam (Sonia Gandhi) herself not contesting election. The Congress is a sinking ship. Wherever Rahul Gandhi goes, he not only damages his own party but also I.N.D.I.A. bloc partners like Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) and Arvind Kejriwal (AAP)," the former MP CM said.

Chouhan said he had visited 10 states, including those in the south, and people were eager to give the BJP a historic mandate and make Narendra Modi prime minister for a third consecutive time.