Congress leaders write to Sonia Gandhi ahead of CWC meet, raise party leadership issues

A day ahead of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, an internal conflict has emerged regarding 'leadership' issues in the Congress party. Reportedly several senior Congress leaders have written to party High Command President Sonia Gandhi and raised a 5-Point Agenda to revive the Party. The CWC meeting is expected to be held on Monday.

Letter politics in Congress

According to ANI, some members of the CWC, MPs, and Senior leaders wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi in which they have raised many questions and also gave suggestions about the functioning of the party. The letter emphasised on the need for active leadership in the party and raised questions about the party's condition and direction. It also demanded the election of the Congress Working Committee.

The five-page letter is drafted by two senior leaders that was discussed and signed by other leaders of the party. The letter did not openly criticise the party high command, however, it is being seen as a 'distrust' and 'charge sheet' against Sonia and Rahul, as per sources.

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A leader involved in the process, on the condition of anonymity, told ANI that the attempt is not against the leadership of Gandhis.

"The group of leaders who have written the letter do not agree on all points but the party needs to discuss the issues and leadership issue should be finalised. If Rahul Gandhi is ready to accept the party President post I will be the first person to welcome it wholeheartedly," the leader said.

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 are being named as signatories on this letter. However, none of these leaders are accepting that they are signatories to the letter. Meanwhile, Congress has also denied that it has received any such letter.

'Conspiracy against Rahul Gandhi'

Although there may not be an official confirmation of this letter, there have been reactions to it. Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam termed the letter as a conspiracy against Rahul Gandhi. "This letter is a new conspiracy to undermine the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. The conspiracy which used to be held in closed rooms has emerged in a letter. The only answer is, Rahul ji should leave his stubbornness of not taking up the post of President. Leave the stubbornness and save the crumbling walls of the Congress in the states. Only those can save the Congress," he said.

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High chances of dispute at CWC meeting

The sources further disclosed that there are high possibilities of dispute in the CWC meeting, to be held through video conferencing at 11 am on Monday, regarding the letter written in the name of Sonia Gandhi. The meeting will be held on 'Cisco WebEx' this time for its better security. A test was also conducted among all CWC members on Saturday evening regarding the new platform.

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(With inputs from ANI)