New Delhi, March 21 (IANS): Congress president Sonia Gandhi has always been an active and vocal leader and her recent work of going out, meeting people and speaking out for them should not be seen as something new, party leader Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday.

In an interview to CNN-IBN news channel, Ramesh said Gandhi has consistently taken a clear position on issues of public importance.

"Gandhi has consistently taken a clear categorical, unequivocal, aggressive position. Whether it's on the issue of criminalisation, whether it's an issue of land acquisition. I think it's wrong to see this as a sign of new activism on her part. She has always been active," he said.

On whether Gandhi was worried that the national space that the Congress was enjoying was completely lost, he said she was not worried as they knew that defeat and loss were "part of the political cycle".

"It's not a fear... it's a challenge for us. We lost the national election in 2014. We lost important state elections, performance in Delhi was particularly disappointing, where we were in power for 15 years. So it's not a fear, it's electoral ups and down."

Asked if the Congress was ready for change, he said the party was facing numerous challenges and it needed a collective effort.

"We have to re-discover the collective spirit and I think the Congress will come back much stronger than it ever has been."