The main opposition Congress party yesterday rejected a request from its interim president Sonia Gandhi, that she be allowed to step down, after a rare challenge to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
Earlier in the day, the widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had offered to resign after almost two dozen senior figures called for better decision-making in the party.
Her request was rejected by the party’s top decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee, which wants Gandhi and her son, Rahul, to remain in control.
“The CWC, reflecting the overwhelming view and desire of the rank and file of the Congress, unanimously resolved to strengthen the hands of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in every possible way,” Congress general secretary K C Venugopal told a news conference.
Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has dealt the Congress heavy defeats at the last two general elections, leading to disquiet in some sections of the party.
The Congress now controls just a handful of India’s 28 states, and the BJP has a comfortable majority in the parliament.
The party meeting came after 23 senior Congress figures wrote a letter calling for better leadership of the party, two sources said – taken by many as a thinly veiled criticism of the Gandhi family.
The sources said the signatories to the letter wanted the Gandhi family to either play a pro-active role or step down, adding that more than 300 regional Congress politicians also supported the letter.
Gandhi said in her closing remarks that she held “no ill-will” towards anyone in the party, a remark intended at the letter writers.
“I am hurt but they are my colleagues, bygones are bygones, let us work together,” she said, ending the CWC meeting on a note of conciliation.
The letter called for a “full-time”, “effective leadership” that will be “visible” and “active” in the field, sources said.
It also called for an “honest introspection” and suggested a “collective leadership”, reforms including decentralisation of power, empowerment of state units and organisational elections at every level, the sources said.
However, several key figures, including the chief ministers of Congress-led states, have publicly backed Gandhi to continue.
“News of 23 seniormost Congress leaders writing (a) letter...is unbelievable and if it is true – it’s very unfortunate,” Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Twitter, calling for Gandhi to stay on.
In New Delhi, Gandhi family supporters held placards and shouted slogans outside party headquarters.
Earlier, senior Congress leader and former minister Kapil Sibal withdrew his angry tweets saying he was informed by Rahul personally that the former party chief did not make the “colluding with BJP” remark attributed to him.
In his new tweet, Sibal said, “Was informed by Rahul Gandhi personally that he never said what was attributed to him. I therefore withdraw my tweet.”
In an earlier tweet Sibal said, “Rahul Gandhi says ‘we are colluding with BJP’. Succeeded in Rajasthan High Court defending the Congress party. Defending party in Manipur to bring down BJP government. Last 30 years have never made a statement in favour of BJP on any issue. Yet ‘we are colluding with the BJP’!”
A party source said another Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said he would quit the party if it was proven that he was colluding with the ruling BJP.
Azad also praised Sonia Gandhi for leading the party amid difficult times.
In a series of tweets, Azad said, “A section of media is wrongly attributing that in the CWC I told Rahul Gandhi to prove that the letter written by us is in collusion with BJP – let me make it very clear that Rahul Gandhi has neither in CWC or outside said that this letter was written at the behest of BJP.”
“What I said was, yesterday some Congress person had said that we did it at the behest of the BJP and in that context I said ‘it is most unfortunate that some colleagues (outside CWC) have accused us of collusion with BJP, and if those people can prove this allegation, I will resign’,” he said.