In a sign that the power tussle in the Congress is far from over, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday reiterated the demand they had made in a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi that members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) as well as presidents in the States should be elected.
Also read: Sonia Gandhi to stay on as Congress chief until next AICC session
In a related development, Ms. Gandhi announced important organisational changes by announcing two committees for the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Saha. But the move can be interpreted as one to dilute the powers of Mr. Azad and party Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, both of whom are signatories to the letter that questioned the style of Congress’ functioning.
Mr. Azad, who is among the 23 dissenting leaders, told the Asia News International (ANI) that elected presidents of the PCCs and block Congress have the support of 51$ of the workers while those who are appointed don’t even enjoy 1% support.
Also read: Find a new Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi tells party
His comments came on a day when the entire letter, that stated that uncertainty over leadership had weakened workers’ morale and the party, was uploaded on the NDTV website.
“An election has the benefit that when you fight elections, at least your party is 51% behind you. Right now, the person who becomes president might not even have 1% support…. If CWC members are elected then they cannot be removed. So what is the problem,” Mr. Azad said.
“Those office-bearers or State unit presidents or block district presidents who attack our proposal know that they will be nowhere when elections happen. Whoever is genuinely invested in the Congress will welcome the letter.”
Also read: Should the Gandhis disengage from the Congress?
As the dissenting group hardened their stand, sources said, Ms. Gandhi decided to broadbase the decision making process by creating two groups for the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
The Rajya Sabha group will now include Ms. Gandhi’s former political secretary Ahmed Patel, senior leader Jairam Ramesh (made the Chief Whip) and general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal apart from Mr. Azad and Mr. Sharma.
Apart from party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the House group will include Gaurav Gogoi, who has been elevated as the Deputy Leader, Chief Whip K Suresh and whip Manickam Tagore.
Also read: Congress must give consensus a chance instead of elections for leadership, says Salman Khurshid
While Punjab MP Ravneet Singh Bittu has been made a whip, dissenters from the Lok Sabha, Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari, have been left out.
Mr. Tharoor, in a tweet late Thursday night, called for an end to leadership debate.
"I’ve been silent for 4 days on recent events in @incIndia because once the CongressPresident says the issue is behind us, it is the duty of all of us to work together constructively in the interests of the Party. I urge all my colleagues to uphold this principle & end the debate," Mr. Tharoor said.
Earlier, Kapil Sibal lashed out against the UP Congress’s proposal to act against Jitin Prasada, another signatory to the letter
“Unfortunate that Jitin Prasada is being officially targeted in U.P. [The] Congress needs to target the BJP with surgical strikes instead of wasting its energy by targeting its own,” Mr. Sibal tweeted.
