Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 24
Sonia Gandhi on Monday survived a second challenge to her leadership in 21 years with the Congress Working Committee (CWC) rejecting demands for a "full-time, active president" by some leaders, resolving unanimously for her to continue as party chief until the next AICC session and authorising her to effect necessary organisational changes to deal with the challenges facing the party.
Edit: Congress mess
THE CWC RESOLUTION...
- Unanimously requested Sonia to continue to 'lead the party until such time as circumstances will permit AICC session to be held.'
- It said inner-party issues must be raised within the party in the 'interest of propriety and discipline'.
- It made it clear none will be allowed to undermine/weaken party and its leadership.
Rahul Gandhi targets letter signatories
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, it is learnt, launched a sharp attack against the signatories, questioning their timing (when Sonia was in hospital) as well as the fact they went public with their grievances.
Sibal hits out, later withdraws remark
Kapil Sibal, one of the signatories, created a flutter when he hit out at Rahul Gandhi on Twitter for a purported remark on the BJP. Sibal, who is not a part of the CWC, withdrew his tweet later.
Led by former PM Manmohan Singh, who moved the resolution, the CWC warned leaders against voicing dissent in public and pledged to "strengthen the hands of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi". Signalling Gandhi supremacy in the Congress, the committee went on to note, "No one can be, nor will be, permitted to undermine the Congress at this critical juncture and Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's voices are the strongest voices fighting the BJP government and the assault on democracy."
Cong dissenters gather at Azad's residence after the CWC meeting, signalling they are ready for a long haul to ensure party reforms
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Rahul Gandhi
Issues are not discussed in media. Soniaji must stay but it can't be open-ended.
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The resolution followed a fiery seven-hour CWC meeting that commenced with Sonia asking to be relieved of the post following demands for an organisational overhaul by some leaders. "The Congress is a large family," she said in her closing remarks, adding that she didn't bear ill-will against anyone and had in the past too risen above hurtful remarks to ensure Congress unity. She was alluding to 1999 when Sharad Pawar, then Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had questioned her foreign origins.
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People who signed the letter and went public must be held accountable.
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The move today was aimed at ensuring the dissenters, including CWC members Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik and Jitin Prasada, endorsed the CWC resolution.
"We are happy at Sonia Gandhi's continuation. We are part and parcel of the CWC resolution," Azad said after the meeting where he was at the receiving end of an unprecedented attack.
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We wrote to strengthen party.... We had no problem with Sonia-ji's continuation.
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Manmohan called the letter "unfortunate", AK Antony termed it cruel while Ahmed Patel questioned its leak to the media. Ambika Soni sought disciplinary action against the signatories. Rahul questioned the timing of the letter when Sonia was hospitalised and the Congress was trouble-shooting in Rajasthan. "We discuss issues in the CWC, not media," he said with sources claiming he mentioned how the letter would help the BJP. Priyanka chose not to speak. Amid raging tempers, Azad offered to resign only to retract his statement later, saying, "Rahul did not mention that the letter was written at BJP's behest."
Ex-minister Kapil Sibal, another signatory to the letter, deleted a related tweet, saying Rahul had personally informed him of not having alluded to the BJP link. The CWC resolution hailed the Gandhis for their leadership through Covid, economic downturn and Chinese aggression. On the way forward, sources said Sonia said that her replacement could not be "open-ended". AICC general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said AICC session would be held "as early as possible". The party also said the CWC favoured Rahul as Sonia's successor. Rahul proposed a committee to assist Sonia ndash; an exercise she would perhaps undertake to address some concerns raised by the dissenters in their August 7 letter.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/3leoSTn
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