Around 23 top Congress leaders, including former Chief Ministers, MPs, former Union Ministers and Congress Working Committee (CWC) members have written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi regarding complete change in the party leadership and the current internal crisis in the Congress, according to reports.
Tomorrow, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will be meeting online and this issue is most likely to be discussed by the top brass of the party, reported NDTV.
The letter calls for an urgent need for “full time and effective leadership”, which is both “visible’’ and “active’’ and an “urgent establishment of an institutional leadership mechanism” to “collectively guide the party’s revival’’, according to The Indian Express’s report.
It also asked for decentralisation of power, elections in the party at all levels and empowerment of its state units.
The letter is reportedly signed by many senior leaders of the party including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan, P J Kurian, Renuka Chaudhary, and Milind Deora.
Earlier, on August 17, sacked Congress leader Sanjay Jha had said that around 100 Congress leaders, including Member of Parliament, had written to Sonia Gandhi regarding the change in the party leadership and transparent elections in the party, but the party denied his Twitter revelation.
Taking it to Twitter, Jha had said, “It is estimated that around 100 Congress leaders (including MP’s), distressed at the state of affairs within the party, have written a letter to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Congress President, asking for change in political leadership and transparent elections in CWC.”
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had reacted on the allegation and linked it to the Facebook row by saying, “Special Misinformation Group on Media-TV Debate Guidance” in its what’sapp of today directed to run the story of a non existant letter of Congress leaders to divert attention from Facebook-BJP links. Of course, BJP stooges have started acting upon it.”
Sanjay Jha was sacked as the Congress spokesperson in June after writing a column criticising the functioning of the political party.
Today, again Jha tweeted and said, “And Randeep Surjewala called me a “ BJP stooge”. He denied the letter.”
The current Congress President Sonia Gandhi took the interim position after her son Rahul Gandhi had resigned after suffering a massive defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Her one-year term as the party President ended on August 10, but the party said that she will continue on the post till a proper procedure was implemented.
Notwithstanding the Congress position about status quo on the party chief’s post, there have been demands within the party to appoint a new party President. Leaders close to Rahul Gandhi have on at least three occasions demanded that he should be brought back as Congress President.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had demanded it during a CWC meeting. The demand was echoed during the meetings of Congress’ Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs in July as well.
A lot of hectic activity is on within the party to this end. Many leaders have met to convey the CWC to appoint a full-time President as the opposition party is facing a crisis after rebellions by Congress leaders and MLAs in Rajasthan and earlier in Madhya Pradesh in the last six months, according to reports.