Congress bandwagon revolts, puts Sonia and Rahul on virtual notice

A day before the crucial meeting of Congress Working Committee on Monday, August 24, a group of senior and middle-level Congress leaders through a joint letter have virtually placed the party’s top leadership on notice.

Though there has been a question mark over the leadership issue in the Congress party for a while, fresh warning signals came this morning in the form of a letter written by as many as 23 Congress leaders to party president Sonia Gandhi. The letter is said to have been sent to Sonia about two weeks ago. But it came out in the open in the form of a report in today’s (August 23) morning edition of Indian Express.

In Delhi’s political circles the move is being read as a virtual ultimatum to the Congress president, or rather the first family of the party, to put the house in order. Since Rahul stepped down as party president owning responsibility for the defeat in the general elections, Sonia has been running the party as its interim president. Among other things, the letter is seeking a permanent arrangement at the top of the grand old party.

The letter lists quite a few grievances. These mostly revolve around uncertainty and state of indecisiveness in the party. The leaders have also complained of lack of deliberations within the party before decisions are taken and therefore the confusion. The letter suggests that disarray in the party is created because of continuing interim and ad-hoc arrangement as the party head for nearly a year now. 

The letter seems to have been deliberately leaked to the newspaper a day before the crucial event. It is rather obvious from the contents of the letter that it is meant to build pressure on Sonia and her son Rahul Gandhi to sort out the issue of leadership.

In August last year, Sonia had taken over as Congress president for a year. The party faces a legal risk as Election Commission may seek details with regard to the election of its leader. The leader’s election is essential as per the Congress constitution. A further delay in sorting this out may invite uncomfortable questions from the commission and may well put the party symbol in jeopardy.

Another reason behind the growing concern is Sonia’s health. A few weeks ago she was admitted to a hospital in Delhi for what was called by Congress higher-ups as a “routine checkup”. Earlier, Sonia has been abroad for treatment. Party insiders say that her health has been a cause of concern though she has been discharging her party, family and public responsibilities rather well. This is so despite her not always being in the prim of her health.

They cite her recent interactions with party MPs through video-conferencing and her attendance at the CWC meetings in the past. The party insiders also recall how Sonia had forced the ruling BJP on back-foot when she offered on behalf of Congress to pay fares of migrants workers walking on their bare foots to their far off villages from cities because of the COVID lockdown.  

Related News: Sonia Gandhi may offer to step down as Cong chief, say reports

The details of the letter as published in the newspaper do not raise undue concerns about Sonia. Instead, the worries seem to reflect the state of mind of its writers which includes present and ex-members of parliament from both the houses of the parliament, former union ministers, chief ministers, PCC chiefs and AICC members. The concerns are mainly about backseat driving by its top leaders without any debate or discussions in any party fora.

The points made by these leaders are obliquely directed at Rahul Gandhi, according to Congress sources. The letter calls for a full-time leader instead of ad hoc dealings related to crucial party related matters. They feel vital national issues can’t be a part-time business of the party. The letter is concerned over undue reliance of the party leadership on social media to deliberate about important issues. It calls for “actual and visible action on the part of the party and its leaders among the public and in an open arena.”

The letter bemoans, “This time, the party is at its weakest, its popularity and electoral performance has hit a nadir. There is a widespread perception – even among Congress supporters — that the party is adrift and the leadership is rudderless. Many may join the chorus which may put pressure on the family.”

Further, the report goes on to say, “Incidentally, many leaders in the party feel Rahul Gandhi’s frequent tweets, which had garnered media attention and drew fierce attacks from the ruling BJP, on issues like the Chinese aggression, have been “immature” and without any discussion in the party.”

Other than the citation made above the newspaper report does not quote any elaborate chunks from the letter. It has relied on a few quotes and expressions like ‘institutional leadership mechanism’ and ‘full-time effective leadership’. Yet, its veracity is not in question as informed Congress sources say that such a letter was, indeed, written.

The signatories include Kapil Sibbal, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mukul Wasnik, Shashi Tharoor, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Manish Tewari, Jitin Prasada, Raj Babbar, Prithviraj Chavan, Veerappa Moily, Vivek Tankha, PJ Kurien, Milind Deora, Renuka Chowdhury, Ajay Singh, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Kaul Singh Thakur, Akhilesh Pratap Singh, Kuldeep Sharma, Yoganand Shastri and Sandeep Dixit, besides Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma.

The fact that so many leaders have signed the letter signifies the seriousness of the issue. It also raises questions who took the initiative in favour of such a drastic move.

Related News: Related news: Congress leaders seek ‘effective’ leadership; CWC to discuss

Though the letter has surfaced now, it was apparently drafted when former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot had revolted. So the question remains whether before writing the letter, or at least leaking it to the Press, howsoever selectively, its writers tested waters.

The letter does not question the leadership as what it seeks is a more active and consistent role on the part of the top person heading or going to head the party. It laments the virtual desertion of the ship by Rahul Gandhi and in a roundabout way calls for his return to the top post with a more focused attitude; or else it suggests a collective leadership indicating the need for a group empowered by the party to take decisions on its behalf with respect to the pressing issues faced by the party and the country.

At one level the leaders who wrote the letter point to what the Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar had once or twice said about Rahul Gandhi. Pawar addressing a question from media had quipped that the leader should first stay and remain in the country. He was pointing out to Rahul Gandhi’s intermittent visits abroad that sometimes turned out to be unusually long.

The letter, its tone and tenor, as indicated by the newspaper report, leaves for two options for the top Central leadership of the Congress Party or rather Rahul Gandhi. And it is: Either come down to accommodation or get ready to face confrontation. In the latter case the party may well split as has been the case in 1969 when the late Indira Gandhi fell out with the Syndicate that was made of formidable Congress leaders from many States.

Congress had also broken in 1977 when leaders like Jagjivan Ram and HN Bahuguna walked out of the party to mark their protest against emergency. Similarly, Congress underwent quite a bit of change with the expulsion of VP Singh in the late 1980s. But the difference between what happened in these cases and today is that Congress now lacks grip over national discourse vis-à-vis its rivals.

In the past, even during the worst crisis faced by the party it was always ready with a plan and a narrative or could not only set it but also take it forward. Sadly, this is no longer the case with today’s Congress.

(The writer is an independent journalist based in Delhi. He tweets @abidshahjourno)