Congress party’s internal feud over the leadership issue has been out in the open recently. It was reported earlier that some senior leaders had written a letter to interim chief Sonia Gandhi asking for a complete overhaul in the party. However, since the day of the CWC meeting, the letter and its signatories have been under scrutiny and criticism from party leaders.
Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad has stated that every state and district president, even the entire CWC should be elected and not appointed, hinting at an overhaul in party’s set standards and even indirectly questioning the Gandhis’ leadership.
The intention is to make Congress active & strong. But those who simply got 'appointment cards' continue to oppose our proposal. What's the harm in having elected CWC members who will have stable tenures in the party: Ghulam Nabi Azad, Senior Congress leader https://t.co/PIFveKydjr
— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2020
Speaking to ANI, Azad stated, “Anyone who has a genuine interest in the internal working dynamics of Congress would welcome our proposal to have every state & district president as being elected. The entire Congress Working Committee should be elected”.
Azad further criticised the ‘appointed’ candidates and hinted that there is a faction in the party which does not want to the party strong. Azad advocated for elected CWC members serving a fixed tenure the party. “The intention is to make Congress active & strong. But those who simply got ‘appointment cards’ continue to oppose our proposal. What’s the harm in having elected CWC members who will have stable tenures in the party.”
‘Dissenting’ voices had met at Shashi Tharoor’s dinner, said report
Recently, a report in Hindustan Times had stated that Shashi Tharoor had hosted a dinner for Congress Leaders five months ago that allegedly had triggered the controversial letter asking for an overhaul in the party.
The HT report had stated that many prominent leaders including P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mani Shankar Iyer and Sachin Pilot attended the party. However, their signatures did not appear on the said 7th August letter addressed to Gandhi. In the letter, the signatories have asked the party high command for a ‘visible’ and ‘active’ leader.
Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad were criticised in CWC meeting
The said letter, however, had created a storm in the CWC meeting. Though the meeting could not decide on the most critical issue of party presidentship, and ended up declaring that Sonia Gandhi will continue to remain the ‘interim president’, the internal feud was out in the open.
Many senior leaders, including Ahmed Patel, had criticised the signatories of the letter. Kapil Sibal and Ghulam Nabi Azad also faced a lot of open criticism from fellow party leaders over the letter. Sonia, in her concluding remarks, reportedly said that she is hurt (over the letter) but she bears no ill will against the party leaders who wrote it.
