Rahul Gandhi or Sachin Pilot: Congress meets to discuss party future
The chorus for making Rahul Gandhi Congress president grew louder on Sunday as several leaders and workers voiced support for him to take on the mantle of party chief.
There is a growing chorus in the Congress to make Rahul Gandhi as the president of the party again, almost three years after he quit in the wake of the dismal loss in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Narendra Modi-led BJP, even as some dissenting leaders felt that the party should look beyond the Gandhis and perhaps look at the possibility of a leader like Sachin Pilot.
Ahead of a crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting to discuss the recent poll rout and future course of action, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot however said no one was taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gandhi does and was fighting resolutely.
“The prime minister has to start his speech after targeting Rahul Gandhi. You can understand what this means. All of us want that Rahulji should take on the mantle of party leadership,” Gehlot told reporters.
He also hailed Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for resolutely fighting in Uttar Pradesh, saying the ‘Ladki hoon lad sakti hu’ campaign resonated in the entire country.
The CWC meeting comes in the wake of the Congress’s poor performance in the recently-concluded assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, unable to form government in any of the states.
Gehlot alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the polls by indulging in polarisation. However, he accepted that the Congress lost in Punjab due to infighting. The Rajasthan chief minister also accused Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati of colluding with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar also backed the idea to make Gandhi the party chief. “As I have said it earlier as well, Sh. Rahul Gandhi should take up the Congress presidency in a full time role immediately. This is the wish of millions of Congress workers like me,” he tweeted.
As I have said it earlier as well, Sh. Rahul Gandhi should take up the Congress presidency in a full time role immediately.
This is the wish of millions of Congress workers like me.@RahulGandhi @INCIndia
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) March 13, 2022
A group led by Delhi Congress leaders, including Alka Lamba, voiced support for Gandhi to lead the party and raised slogans in his and Priyanka Gandhi’s favour.
Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV said the Gandhi family is the “thread that binds together not only the Congress but all sections of the country and it is not dependent on any electoral victory or defeat”.
Rahul Gandhi had resigned as Congress president after the party suffered its second consecutive defeat in general elections in 2019. Sonia Gandhi, who took over the reins of the party again as interim president, had also offered to quit in August 2020 after strong criticism by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue.
However, a group known as the G23, comprising 23 senior leaders who have called for widespread reforms in the Congress party, expressed their desire to see a person of non-Gandhi family as the party president.
One of them, Sanjay Jha tweeted that Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot should be given the charge.
Sachin Pilot. Congress President.
It is time to give him the responsibility of leading the Congress. He is hard working, 24X 7 leader, accessible, hungry to win, and an outstanding communicator.
— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) March 10, 2022
Another dissident leader, Vivek Tankha, called for the Congress to rebuild the idea of India. “Time to think! Not what the party do for you, but what you can do for the party. Appeal to CWC, re build the idea of India once again. We have talent and reach. What we need is a collective endeavour. Let’s do it. We can do it.”
The G23 leaders had met at the residence of Ghulam Nabi Azad a few days back. According to reports, these leaders feel that the CWC meeting will be a futile exercise that will not yield effective results. Also, only three G23 leaders — Azad, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik— are part of the CWC meet that comprises 54 other leaders.
Ahead of the meeting, Jharkhand legislator Dipika Pandey Singh resigned from the post of national secretary of the Congress and the party’s co-in charge of Uttarakhand after its defeat in the recent assembly polls in the northern state.
