Sonia Gandhi may have stated in the Congress Working Committee that she bears no ill will against the letter writers, but has this message gone down the rank and file? Days after her comments, one of the letter writers, Jitin Prasada, saw some protests in his constituency organised by the district president at the behest of the AICC secretary in-charge of his area. Even before the Working Committee, Kumari Selja, known to be a Sonia Gandhi loyalist, had tweeted that the letter writers could be colluding with the BJP. It is also rumoured that the minutes of the working committee that were leaked were “authorised” leaks, and hence the confusion over Rahul Gandhi’s alleged comments where he has been misquoted.
Now let’s take a look at the events post the CWC after all has been “forgiven”. The first sign was the CWC resolution that very strongly emphasised its faith in both Rahul and Sonia’s leadership and singled out their fight against the BJP. This is something Rahul has been saying for long that while he and his family take on the BJP, they get little support from the rank, and even file. Next while there were some briefings claiming that an AICC session would be called within six months leading to the election of a new party chief, the resolution is silent on this. All it states is that an AICC session will be called but doesn’t mention a timeline, using Covid-19 as the reason. Will the new president be in place after six months or will the process begin in six months? And will this process involve an election or a nomination? No one knows. But sources close to RaGa say he is in favour of an election and has assured the dissenters of the same.
Then came the announcement of a committee to take on the government on its various ordinances. This is apparently not a new committee but one that was constituted on 14 August but the press release came over a week later. No letter writer is a member, in fact from the Lok Sabha where Manish Tewari could easily have been accommodated, Dr Amar Singh, another MP from Punjab, has been taken. A former IAS officer, he was Digvijaya Singh’s private secretary and is said to be both Digvijaya and Capt Amarinder’s choice. Again, a sign of the Old Guard taking over. But it’s not just Team Sonia, even RaGa’s key aides have been singled out for a larger role — from K.C. Venugopal to Gaurav Gogoi. Again, it’s not just who is included that is important but also who is left out. Also to be noted, former Congress spokesperson Shakil Ahmed who had been suspended and contested polls against the Congress as an Independent has now been welcomed back; but Sanjay Jha’s suspension still remains. Is it because he is so siding with the letter writers?
All eyes are on the committee that was proposed to be set up to assist Sonia Gandhi in the day-to-day running of the party. Will any of the letter writers be accommodated or will it again be a panel constituted to send a snub? If the latter, then what recourse is available to the letter writers? They are claiming that over 300 signatures are with them, and others like P.C. Chako, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Anil Shastri have joined in the chorus. Will others join in? Or will it be divide and rule as some of the letter writers will be co-opted into the system and others sidelined?
There is also talk of the rebels reaching out to other Congress leaders who have left the party and fared well — Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee. But the problem here again is that even if they all unite, who will take the leadership. In the end, it all boils down to that crucial leadership.