Image Source: Internet Photo

Collective leadership vs Gandhis at helm: Congress divided ahead of CWC

New Delhi | 23-Aug-2020

Ahead of the Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday, different voices have emerged within the party with one section comprising sitting MPs and former ministers demanding collective leadership, while another group has sought the return of Rahul Gandhi as the president.
While two dozen Congress leaders including some ex-ministers have written to party president Sonia Gandhi for overhaul of the organizational structure and changes to the leadership, some leaders close to Rahul have also written to the CWC (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/CWC) pressing for the Gandhi scion's return as chief.
The letter by former ministers and some MPs was believed to have been written a few weeks ago and sets the stage for a stormy CWC meeting where issues flagged by dissenters are expected to be discussed and debated.
These leaders have called for bringing changes in the organization by effecting reforms through decentralisation of power and empowerment of state units besides setting up of the central Parliamentary Board, a body that existed in the party in the 1970s but was later wound up.
The letter in question has also stressed collective decision-making with Gandhi family as its integral part.
They have also called for the appointment of a full-time leadership which is active and which can be easily contacted by workers and leaders. The pro-reform leaders are further learnt to have called for free and fair organizational polls from the block up to the working committee level.
A counter to the pro-reform lobby arguing for collective leadership in the Congress has also begun with sitting MP Manickam Tagore calling for Rahul Gandhi�s return as party president.
Gandhis are the symbol of sacrifice. Decision by Congress CWC was a majority decision reflecting the will of 1100 AICC, 8800 PCC members, five crore workers and 12 crore supporters who want Rahul Gandhi as their leader, Tagore said, referring to the 2019 decision of the CWC to name Sonia Gandhi as party president after Rahul declined to accept a unanimous CWC appeal to stay in the post.
Apart from Tagore, Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy, ex-Telangana lawmaker and AICC secretary in charge of Maharashtra has also asked for the promotion of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president without any further delay.
In a letter to the CWC on Sunday, Challa Reddy said any delay in Rahul�s reinstatement would be at the cost of the Congress.
Opposing the bid to challenge the Gandhi family leadership, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said Sonia Gandhi should continue as long as she wants and Rahul should take over after her as he is fully competent.
In a statement, Singh said the need today is for a strong opposition against the BJP-led NDA which is out to destroy the country�s constitutional ethos and democratic principles.
The veteran Congress leader said the NDA�s success was attributable to the absence of a strong and united opposition.
�The move by these Congress leaders to demand a re-haul of the party at this critical juncture would be detrimental to its interests, and the interests of the nation,� he said.
�What the Congress needs is a leadership that is acceptable not just to a few but to the entire party, through its rank and file, and the nation at large,� he said, adding that the Gandhis were the right fit for this role.
Senior leader Salman Khurshid said the party should give consensus a chance instead of elections which create divisiveness.
Khurshid also said Rahul enjoys the �full support� and �endorsement� of party leaders and workers, and it does not matter whether he wears the label of a president or not.
�I have said very clearly that the Gandhis are leaders of the Congress. Nobody can deny this, even the opposition cannot deny
this. I am quite happy having a leader, I don�t worry about whether or not we have a president, we have a leader (in Rahul Gandhi) and that is comforting for me,� the former Union minister told PTI in an interview.
�I am very surprised. I have not heard a single demand being made in the Communist party or in the regional parties or in the BJP. I have not heard about demand for elections in any of those parties,� Khurshid said.
�Elections are important, but the historical context in which elections have to be held, circumstances, have to be taken into account. Consensus has been an important part of the political process in the Congress,� he said.
Giving up consensus and opting for elections, without reflecting upon the implications and consequences might be running into �unknown, unchartered territory�, he said.
While the younger leaders in the Congress are expected to chalk out a strategy to push for Rahul�s return to the helm, the leaders who earlier petitioned to Sonia Gandhi have called for contacting and winning back all those Congressmen who have quit the party and joined the BJP and expressed concerns over rank and file getting demoralised due to the drift in the party.
They are also learnt to have pointed out that the CWC is not �guiding� the party effectively in mobilizing public opinion against the BJP.
Among leaders learnt to have signed the letter are Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, deputy leader of
Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, former chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, besides former ministers Mukul Wasnik, Kapil Sibal, M Veerappa Moily, Shashi Tharoor, MP Manish Tewari, and former MPs Milind Deora, Jitin Prasada and Sandeep Dixit.
The signatories are also said to include former party unit chiefs including Raj Babbar, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Kaul Singh Thakur besides leaders Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Kuldeep Sharma.
These leaders argued that in the absence of a direct dialogue with the Congress chief over strengthening of the party, revival of the party has become imperative in the interest of democracy in the country.
While most of the leaders who have written the letter did not answer calls on Sunday, some who answered remained tightlipped on the issue having set the stage for a CWC debate on the need for a Gandhi vis-a-vis a non Gandhi Congress president.