The chanting of “hamara neta kaisa ho, Rahul Gandhi jaisa ho (How should be our leader? He should be like Rahul Gandhi)” sounded loud and clear outside the meeting venue of the Congress Working Committee held on Sunday at Congress headquarters in New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by interim president Sonia Gandhi, and was attended by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi and other top leaders. The talking point of the meeting was to take stock of the failures in the five states. The party faced drubbing in all the five states, including Punjab, where it was the incumbent party. The party also failed poorly in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections after securing just two out of 403 seats. In Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa also the party did not perform well.
The CWC on Sunday requested Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi to lead from the front, address organizational weaknesses, effect necessary and comprehensive organizational changes in order to take on the political challenges. Addressing a press conference after the five-hour-long meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Venugopal said “The CWC unanimously reaffirms its faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and requests the Congress President to lead from the front, address the organisational weaknesses, effect necessary and comprehensive organizational changes in order to take on the political challenges.”
Congress will also hold a Chintan Shivir immediately after the Budget Session of Parliament and before that Congress Working Committee will meet again, he added.
Venugopal further added that the Congress party represents the “hopes of millions of Indians against political authoritarianism prevailing in the country today and the party is fully conscious of its immense responsibility.”
Sonia Gandhi will immediately take up immediate corrective measures to revamp and re-strengthen organisation, informed Venugopal.
Accepting the electoral verdict of the latest round of Assembly elections, the Congress party assured its workers and the people of India that it will continue to remain a vigilant and vibrant opposition.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra proposed to resign during the Congress Working Committee meeting today but the CWC unanimously rejected this, said sources on Sunday.
“Sonia Gandhi in her speech said that if the party feels we all three (herself, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) are ready to resign, but CWC unanimously rejected this,” said sources. Speaking to news agency ANI, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that Sonia Gandhi along with her family members Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was ready to scarify their posts for the party, but everyone rejected this.
Congress Working Committee called the recent Assembly election results of five states a “cause of serious concern” for the party.
Congress leader R. Surjewala, who was addressing the press conference along with Venugopal said, “Every single member of CWC wants Sonia Gandhi to guide the party till organisational elections are held.”
Ahead of the crucial meeting, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot strongly defended the Gandhi family, saying that Rahul Gandhi was the only leader who was taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said, “The Prime Minister has to start his speech after targeting Rahul Gandhi, you can understand what this means.”
Gehlot said that those who are critical of the party will get a befitting reply one day. He said that Congress will continue its journey under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. He said that the Gandhi family was important for the unity of the Congress.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal, senior leaders Pawan Bansal and Rajeev Shukla, Jharkhand in-charge Avinash Pandey among others attended the meeting. The meeting was also attended by the extended CWC 68 members including resenting G23 leaders, Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Manoj Tiwari.
Sushil Kumar, a party member protesting outside the party headquarters said, “It’s the collective responsibility of the party and no particular person should be held responsible for the losses the grand old party has suffered.”
Another party member said, “We are here to back Rahul Gandhi, he should be the one who leads the party as he is the only one who has acceptance nationwide.”
The protesting party members emphasized that the party can only survive if it is run by Gandhis and anyone presiding the helm outside the Gandhi family will not auger well for the whole party.
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and five other senior Congress leaders, including party MP A. Chella Kumar, former Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam, Tariq Hameed Karra and G. Sanjeeva Reddy skipped the meeting. Former defence minister AK Antony skipped the meeting as he tested positive for COVID-19.
Ahead of the meeting, the dissident group within the party, G23, had suggested Mukul Wasnik for the post of president of the party, which was not accepted, sources said.
Sources said, “G23, which includes Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, had suggested Mukul Wasnik’s name for the post of president of the party. But it was not accepted.”
The source, who is a part of G23, also said that the new party president should lead the party in the manner as was done by Sonia Gandhi in 2000. “Though Sonia Gandhi is the (interim) president, it is virtually (being) run by K.C. Venugopal, Ajay Maken and Randeep Surjewala. There is no accountability fixed on them. Rahul Gandhi is not the president. But he operates from behind the scenes and takes decisions. He does not communicate openly. We are the party’s well-wishers and not enemies,” added the source.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said that Congress will raise a number of issues, including inflation, unemployment and evacuation of the students from Ukraine, in the second part of the Budget session in Parliament, beginning from tomorrow.
“We held a discussion on the issues to be raised in the upcoming Parliament session. We will try to raise the issues of inflation, unemployment, MSP for farmers and medical students returning from Ukraine,” Kharge said.
The results of the five assembly polls came as a shock to the Congress which was hoping to do well to revive its prospects for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and to fend off the emerging challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress to replace it as the fulcrum of anti-BJP politics in the country.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS