Published 16:33 IST, August 23rd 2020
Congress Vs Congress: Leaders slam letter signed by 23 seniors seeking 'structural change'
Lashing out at the 23 Congress leaders who have demanded 'structural changes' in the party, several leaders have slammed the letter, saying it strengthens BJP
Lashing out at the 23 Congress leaders who have demanded 'structural changes' in the Congress party, Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh on Sunday, said this was not the time to raise such an issue, ahead of a crucial CWC meeting on Monday. The Punjab CM warned that any move to divide or destabilize the party would give advantage to the 'dictatorial forces' and would be detrimental to the party's interests. The critical Congress Working Committee (CWC) is set to meet on Monday as Sonia Gandhi term as interim-chief comes to an end.
Congress Vs Congress on 'structural changes'
Apart from Singh, several other Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid, Sanjay Nirupam, Siddaramaiah have also opposed this idea. Khurshid has said that 'Congress should give consensus a chance instead of internal polls', whil talking to PTI. Meanwhile, Nirupam has alleged that this letter is a 'conspiracy hatched in closed rooms' to blunt Rahul Gandhi's chance to lead the party once again. The calls for Rahul Gandhi to take over the party reins have been growing louder, while the Congress is once again split into two camps.
23 leaders seek 'structural changes'
Hinting at apparent turmoil within the Grand old party, 23 senior leaders have written to party's interim-Chief Sonia Gandhi raising a 5-Point Agenda to revive the Party. The letter emphasised on the need for active leadership in the party and raised questions about the party's condition and direction, demanding an internal election to the CWC. The five-page letter - drafted by two senior leaders bears the signatures of leaders from the Congress' 'old guard ' and the 'young guard' (i.e Rahul Gandhi supporters). Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Jitin Prasad, Veerappa Moily, Pramod Tiwari, PJ Kurien, Sandeep Dikshit, as per sources. Meanwhile, Congress has denied that it has received any such letter.
Congress' string of resignations
Since the resignation of Rahul Gandhi as party chief post-2019 Lok Sabha debacle, several Congress members have resigned from their posts. Rahul Gandhi's resignation triggered over 200 Congress leaders to resign from their party post 'in honour and respect of Rahul Gandhi' as stated in their resignation letters - including Milind Deora, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Jyotiraditya Scindia. While Scindia has since then jumped to BJP, toppling the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, most others have remained as Congress members.
Moreover, Congress also received a scare as Sachin Pilot along with 18 MLAs split away from Gehlot's Rajasthan government - bringing it to the brink of collapse. While Pilot reconciled, the party sacked him from all his Congress posts, cabinet posts and has had to constitute a 3-member panel to probe into his demands. The party has also seen too many defections across states and has also thrown out Sanjay Jha for raising the same issues the 23 leaders have.
Updated 16:34 IST, August 23rd 2020