Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : Daggers are drawn in the Congress ahead of the crucial working committee meeting on Monday to deliberate on the issue of the party’s leadership, with dissenting voices demanding a collective leadership and the pro-Gandhi lobby firmly seeking the installation of Rahul Gandhi in the top post.
Days after suspended Congress leader Sanjay Jha let the cat out of the bag by publicly tweeting that hundred Congress leaders were drafting a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking restructuring and rethinking on leadership, party sources on Sunday admitted that a letter had indeed come — not from 100 but around 20 leaders including ex-ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik and Ex Haryana CM BS Hooda asking for changes.
The letter in question principally argues against a Gandhi at the helm and says “we seek a collective leadership of which Gandhis will be an integral part.”
The letter also demands reconstitution of the parliamentary board which has become dysfunctional in the years after the 1970s with the Congress Pierre centralised in the high command, namely the Gandhi family.
While the dissenters, led by some heavyweights, have done what some insiders term “unprecedented”, a parallel slew of letters from the pro-Gandhi lobby has also begun.
AICC sources said the pro-Gandhi lobby will remain hyperactive until the CWC meeting tomorrow and also afterwards to ensure the family retains control of the affairs.
The first among pro Gandhis to demand Rahul’s return as party president today was sitting MP Manickam Tagore who said the CWC last year decided to ask Rahul Gandhi to stay president and named Sonia after Rahul declined.
“The CWC decision represented the will of 1,100 AICC members, 8,800 PCC members and crores of party workers and leaders who want Rahul to be chief.
AICC Secretary for Maharashtra Challa Reddy meanwhile has written to CWC demanding Rahul Gandhi’s “promotion as party chief without further delay.”
Insiders meanwhile said that the CWC meeting, although likely to be stormy, will take a pre-decided course.
“Congress Party is structured in a way that dissent won’t hamper the high command and won’t stand. When veterans like Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Arjun Singh, Shiv Charan Mathur could not dislodge then party chief PV Narasimha Rao by forming Congress Tewari with the tacit backing of Sonia Gandhi at the time, how can anyone expect a dozen leaders who have always benefited from her to challenge her?” asked a Congress veteran adding whatever happens tomorrow at the CWC would be what Sonia Gandhi wants.
She may want to give dissenters time to be heard or majority CWC may bunk the dissenters’ letter.
“One thing I can say with surety — nothing will change under pressure. That’s not how Congress works,” said another leader watching developments from the margins.
Punjab CM Amarinder backs Gandhis
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh led the pro-Gandhi voice today, saying only the Gandhis can restore pristine glory of the Congress and lead it against internal and external threats to India.
In a statement Singh opposed the bid by some Congress leaders to challenge the Gandhi family leadership of the party, saying this was not the time to raise such an issue, given the need for a strong opposition against the BJP-led NDA that was out to destroy the country’s Constitutional ethos and democratic principles.
“NDA’s success was attributable to the absence of a strong and united Opposition, and the move by these Congress leaders to demand a rehaul of the party at this critical juncture would be detrimental to its interests, and the interests of the nation. India is currently facing not just external dangers from across the border but also internal threats to its federal structure, he said, adding that a unified Congress alone could protect the country and its people.“
