Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seems to lack “consistency” to some extent. This comes weeks after former US President Barack Obama wrote in his memoir that Gandhi lacked ‘aptitude and passion.’

Pawar, an ally of the Congress, however, did not agree with Barack Obama’s unflattering comments on the Congress leader. “It is not necessary that we should accept everybody’s view… I think Obama crossed that limit,” the 79-year-old leader said in an interview to Lokmat Media chairman and former MP Vijay Darda on Thursday, reports PTI.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi a ‘hapless student,’ writes former US president Barack Obama in memoir

When asked if the country was ready to accept Rahul Gandhi as leader, Pawar said, “There are some questions in this regard. There seems to be less consistency.”

Gandhi, 50, who is currently battling unrest within his party too, quit as Congress chief after the 2019 Lok Sabha election drubbing when the party managed to win just 51 seats. Recently, a group of senior party leaders, in a letter to interim president Sonia Gandhi, expressed their disappointment over the way the party was being run. This came amid buzz that Rahul Gandhi was set to return as the party president.

Asked about the Congress’s future and if Rahul Gandhi was becoming a “hurdle” for the party, Pawar said the leadership of any party depends on what kind of acceptance he or she has within the organisation.

“Though I had differences with (Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi and the family, even today Congressmen have a sense of affection for the Gandhi-Nehru family,” the NCP chief, who quit the Congress over the leadership issue two decades ago, said.