<p dir="ltr">Sonia Gandhi has chalked up a very visible victory against the group of senior Congress leaders who wrote to her earlier this month, drawing attention to the drift in the party and pressing for a full-time visible president. But the win may have come at the cost of a genuine attempt at airing of concerns and pressing ahead with long-due changes in the Congress. </p>.<div><p dir="ltr">With the developments of August 24, Sonia seems to have had her way and eased the road ahead for her son and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. The letter writers, supposedly numbering 23, were effectively snubbed at a marathon seven-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which disapproved of their efforts to undermine Sonia Gandhi’s leadership. The meet tamely ended with the adoption of a resolution requesting her to continue as interim party president till alternate arrangements could be made.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Eating humble pie</strong></p><p dir="ltr">Pushed on the backfoot, the dissenters were reduced to defending themselves, consistently pointing out that they never harboured any doubts about Sonia Gandhi’s ability to lead the Congress. Nor did their letter suggest that she and Rahul Gandhi should step aside to give an opportunity to a non-Gandhi to take over the party’s presidency. </p><p dir="ltr">They were at pains to explain that their letter was essentially aimed at pointing to the lack of direction in the party which was primarily due to the prevailing uncertainty about Sonia Gandhi’s tenure as Congress chief and the ambiguous status of Rahul Gandhi’s future plans. </p><p dir="ltr">However, this did not cut much ice with the others as the CWC resolution rapped the dissenters on the knuckles for airing their grievances in public and were told in no uncertain terms that all attempts to undermine the party (read the Gandhis) would not be tolerated. The dissenters were left with few options but to endorse the resolution as none of them are mass leaders like Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee who can survive outside the party fold. </p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Making it all about the Gandhis</strong></p><p dir="ltr">The CWC deliberations became an occasion for Sonia Gandhi to successfully ensure that the meeting was all about her leadership. She set the ball rolling by dashing off a letter on the eve of the meeting to K C Venugopal, party general secretary in charge of organisation, saying that she wished to step down and that the CWC should start the process of finding her replacement. </p><p dir="ltr">Given this backdrop, the meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body predictably became an occasion for the “loyalists” to express their undying faith in Sonia Gandhi’s leadership. Not only did she succeed in securing her own position, Sonia Gandhi also warded off any possible questions which could have been raised about Rahul Gandhi’s style of functioning in the course of a discussion. She understood that the letter was not aimed at her but was a subtle message that Rahul Gandhi does not have it in him to lead the party. </p><p dir="ltr">With the Nehru-Gandhi scion reluctant to return as party chief, the “letter bomb” came in handy to orchestrate a chorus at the CWC that Rahul Gandhi return as Congress president whenever Sonia Gandhi wished to hand over the baton to him. </p><p dir="ltr">The resolution adopted by the CWC particularly acknowledged the leading role played by the mother and son duo in “exposing the government’s inadequate responses, divisive politics and audacious propaganda,” suggesting that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were the only two leaders in the Congress who were battling the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Lost opportunity</strong></p><p dir="ltr">While Sonia Gandhi can justifiably congratulate herself on her strategic win at Monday’s CWC meeting, there is no getting away from the fact that she frittered away an excellent opportunity to discuss all that is wrong with the party today. </p><p dir="ltr">Instead of dismissing the dissenting voices, which includes seniors like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan and Kapil Sibal, the concerns raised by them could have served as a basis to kick off a long-delayed and much-required introspection on the party’s electoral losses, its eroding support base, poor organisational strength and lack of ideological clarity. </p><p dir="ltr">As it is, Congress insiders have been bemoaning that the party has not thought it necessary to brainstorm over these issues despite its two consecutive humiliating defeats in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.</p><p dir="ltr">Then there have been complaints about the inaccessibility of the party leadership, Rahul Gandhi’s “non-political” team members and shrinking spaces for deliberating key matters like the party’s position on the recent Chinese incursions or the Facebook controversy. </p><p dir="ltr">The much-maligned letter has sought internal elections to the CWC and the party president’s post and the reconstitution of the Congress Parliamentary Board and greater empowerment of state units. </p><p dir="ltr">All these are valid suggestions and certainly merited a discussion. Now was the time to initiate such an exercise.</p><p dir="ltr">But by giving primary billing to safeguarding the Gandhi family’s interests, it was the party which eventually lost out. </p><p dir="ltr"><em>(Anita Katyal is a Delhi-based journalist and a keen observer of domestic political developments)</em></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.</em></p></div>
<p dir="ltr">Sonia Gandhi has chalked up a very visible victory against the group of senior Congress leaders who wrote to her earlier this month, drawing attention to the drift in the party and pressing for a full-time visible president. But the win may have come at the cost of a genuine attempt at airing of concerns and pressing ahead with long-due changes in the Congress. </p>.<div><p dir="ltr">With the developments of August 24, Sonia seems to have had her way and eased the road ahead for her son and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. The letter writers, supposedly numbering 23, were effectively snubbed at a marathon seven-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which disapproved of their efforts to undermine Sonia Gandhi’s leadership. The meet tamely ended with the adoption of a resolution requesting her to continue as interim party president till alternate arrangements could be made.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Eating humble pie</strong></p><p dir="ltr">Pushed on the backfoot, the dissenters were reduced to defending themselves, consistently pointing out that they never harboured any doubts about Sonia Gandhi’s ability to lead the Congress. Nor did their letter suggest that she and Rahul Gandhi should step aside to give an opportunity to a non-Gandhi to take over the party’s presidency. </p><p dir="ltr">They were at pains to explain that their letter was essentially aimed at pointing to the lack of direction in the party which was primarily due to the prevailing uncertainty about Sonia Gandhi’s tenure as Congress chief and the ambiguous status of Rahul Gandhi’s future plans. </p><p dir="ltr">However, this did not cut much ice with the others as the CWC resolution rapped the dissenters on the knuckles for airing their grievances in public and were told in no uncertain terms that all attempts to undermine the party (read the Gandhis) would not be tolerated. The dissenters were left with few options but to endorse the resolution as none of them are mass leaders like Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee who can survive outside the party fold. </p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Making it all about the Gandhis</strong></p><p dir="ltr">The CWC deliberations became an occasion for Sonia Gandhi to successfully ensure that the meeting was all about her leadership. She set the ball rolling by dashing off a letter on the eve of the meeting to K C Venugopal, party general secretary in charge of organisation, saying that she wished to step down and that the CWC should start the process of finding her replacement. </p><p dir="ltr">Given this backdrop, the meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body predictably became an occasion for the “loyalists” to express their undying faith in Sonia Gandhi’s leadership. Not only did she succeed in securing her own position, Sonia Gandhi also warded off any possible questions which could have been raised about Rahul Gandhi’s style of functioning in the course of a discussion. She understood that the letter was not aimed at her but was a subtle message that Rahul Gandhi does not have it in him to lead the party. </p><p dir="ltr">With the Nehru-Gandhi scion reluctant to return as party chief, the “letter bomb” came in handy to orchestrate a chorus at the CWC that Rahul Gandhi return as Congress president whenever Sonia Gandhi wished to hand over the baton to him. </p><p dir="ltr">The resolution adopted by the CWC particularly acknowledged the leading role played by the mother and son duo in “exposing the government’s inadequate responses, divisive politics and audacious propaganda,” suggesting that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were the only two leaders in the Congress who were battling the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Lost opportunity</strong></p><p dir="ltr">While Sonia Gandhi can justifiably congratulate herself on her strategic win at Monday’s CWC meeting, there is no getting away from the fact that she frittered away an excellent opportunity to discuss all that is wrong with the party today. </p><p dir="ltr">Instead of dismissing the dissenting voices, which includes seniors like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan and Kapil Sibal, the concerns raised by them could have served as a basis to kick off a long-delayed and much-required introspection on the party’s electoral losses, its eroding support base, poor organisational strength and lack of ideological clarity. </p><p dir="ltr">As it is, Congress insiders have been bemoaning that the party has not thought it necessary to brainstorm over these issues despite its two consecutive humiliating defeats in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.</p><p dir="ltr">Then there have been complaints about the inaccessibility of the party leadership, Rahul Gandhi’s “non-political” team members and shrinking spaces for deliberating key matters like the party’s position on the recent Chinese incursions or the Facebook controversy. </p><p dir="ltr">The much-maligned letter has sought internal elections to the CWC and the party president’s post and the reconstitution of the Congress Parliamentary Board and greater empowerment of state units. </p><p dir="ltr">All these are valid suggestions and certainly merited a discussion. Now was the time to initiate such an exercise.</p><p dir="ltr">But by giving primary billing to safeguarding the Gandhi family’s interests, it was the party which eventually lost out. </p><p dir="ltr"><em>(Anita Katyal is a Delhi-based journalist and a keen observer of domestic political developments)</em></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.</em></p></div>