Congress got Rs 139 cr donations in 2019-20; Sonia Gandhi gave Rs 50,000, Sibal Rs 3 cr

Congress party received in total a sum of Rs 139 crores as donations during 2019-2020 revealed contributions report published in public domain by Election Commission. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal was highest individual dor  - having given Rs 3 crores to party fund while former PM Manmohan Singh contributed Rs 1,08,000. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul donated Rs 50,000 and Rs 54,000 respectively between April 1, 2019, and May 31, 2020.Or Congress leaders such as Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma, and Gulam Nabi Azad made donations of Rs 54,000. Milind Deora and Raj Babbar donated over Rs 1 lakh to party. Apart from party leaders, Congress received Rs 19 crores from ITC and its associate companies while Prudent Electoral Trust contributed Rs 31 crore.

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As per provisions of electoral laws, political parties have to report contributions above Rs 20,000 made by individuals, companies, electoral trusts, and organizations.  contribution document was submitted to EC by Congress in December last year and was signed by party's interim Treasurer Pawan Bansal. It is pertinent to te that Kapil Sibal and Azad belonged to group of 23 leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking a revamp of party's organizational structure. 

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How Congress suffers from a leadership crisis

Congress party has decided to conduct polls for its chief in May this year, as per sources, even as party faces a leadership crisis. After Bihar debacle, senior leaders like Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram have come out in open and questioned leadership. However, a group of Congress leaders have once again pitched name of Rahul Gandhi for top post, with Delhi Congress even passing a resolution for same. Earlier, 23 top leaders had written to interim chief Sonia Gandhi demanding robust changes in party. Though Sonia Gandhi mand to quell rebellion, voices against leadership has risen due to poor performances in back to back elections.

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It must be ted that dissenting voices had risen in Congress party a few months ago against backdrop of fight between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan. Senior Congress leaders like Kapil Sibal and Ghulam Nabi Azad had n spoken openly against Central leadership of Gandhis. However, interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was able to quash rebellion and had assured party members of reviewing raised demands. 

Congress has been in a leadership dilemma since Rahul Gandhi quit as party chief in post-Lok Sabha 2019 debacle. This led to a barr of resignations from various posts. Amidst a lot of turmoil with Priyanka Vadra also being considered, Congress finally went back to ir safe option and named Sonia Gandhi as its interim chief. Recently, her tenure was again extended. While some loyalists have time and again implored 50-year-old Rahul Gandhi to take back reins of party, this has also been met with significant opposition. Moreover, prominent Congress leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Khushbu Sundar have quit party and joined BJP. 

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