Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 27: Despite the scathing attack on the leadership of Rahul Gandhi by one of the party veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad, who quit the Congress on Friday, several senior leaders of the party still show unshakable faith in his leadership and are insisting on “requesting” Gandhi to take back the mantle of the party that he left in a huff in 2019 after the party’s mauling in the hands of the BJP in the Parliamentary elections.
“Rahul Gandhi would be pursued to return as Congress President as there is no one else in the party other than him who has a pan-India appeal,” veteran leader M Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday. The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said anyone aspiring to lead the party should be known throughout the country and enjoy support from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and West Bengal to Gujarat.
“He should be well-recognised, accepted man to the entire Congress party,” Kharge said. “You tell me the alternative. Who is there? (in the party other than Rahul Gandhi)”, Kharge asked. “So, nobody is there (in the party with such a stature).” Another veteran leader and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot had expressed a similar sentiment. On Wednesday Gehlot said efforts would be made till the last minute to persuade Rahul Gandhi to take over the reins of the party again.
Under the shadow of Azad’s virulent attack on Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Sunday to decide on the schedule of dates for the election of the next party president. According to reports, some members of G-23 group (Congress leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi seeking reforms in the party) held a meeting at Azad’s home in Delhi on Saturday, though the latter had quit the party. Azad is said to have authored the letter written by the G-23 leaders in 2020 demanding overhaul of the party machinery with elections at different levels. Sonia Gandhi, who took over the reins of the party again as interim president, had also offered to quit in August 2020 after the open revolt by the G-23 leaders, but the CWC had urged her to continue.
The CWC meeting will be held virtually with Sonia Gandhi presiding over it from the United States where she has gone for a routine medical check-up. With Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accompanying her, all of them will join the CWC meeting virtually.
The Congress had announced in October last year that the election of the new party president will be held between August 21 and September 20 this year but the indications are that the schedule may be re-worked and the election dates further delayed. Several leaders have been publicly exhorting Rahul Gandhi to become party chief again. However, uncertainty and suspense continue on the issue. Several party insiders say Rahul Gandhi is persisting with his stance that he will not be Congress chief and also does not want anyone from the “Gandhi” family hold the office.
“We will ask him, we will force him and request him (to return as Congress President). We stand behind him. We will try to pursue him”, Kharge said about Rahul Gandhi. He recalled that all senior leaders had “forced” Sonia Gandhi to join and work for the party, and had requested Rahul Gandhi to “come and fight.”
On reports that Rahul Gandhi is unwilling to take up the mantle, Kharge said he will be requested and asked to take charge “for the sake of the party, for the sake of the country, for fighting the RSS-BJP and to keep the country united.” Kharge also referred to the party’s upcoming “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, and said Rahul Gandhi is needed to “Jodo Bharat.” In his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi, Azad had lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for “demolishing its entire consultative mechanism” through a coterie and group of sycophants.
The grand old party has seen a number of high profile exits over the past few months, including that of Kapil Sibal, Sunil Jakhar, Amarinder Singh, RPN Singh and Ashwani Kumar. However, Azad’s resignation coupled with the no-holds-barred letter is likely to have hurt the party leadership the most in recent times. In a damage control mode, the party said Azad’s DNA had been “Modi-fied” in an apparent reference to his cordial ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading to speculations that he might float his own party in Jammu and Kashmir and subsequently join hands with the BJP.