Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, March 17: The party’s total rout in the elections to the five state Assemblies seems to have helped removing the stone wall between the Congress high command and the party dissidents, known as “Group of 23,” as for the first time in many months Gandhis have started reaching out to the strong critics of the present top leadership.
The core group of Congress’s G-23 dissidents are scheduled to meet again on Thursday night, second time in the last two days apparently to give feedback of the discussions some of the leaders had with the Gandhis over revamping of the organisational set up during the course of the day on Thursday.
Soon after the G-23 meeting on Wednesday in which the dissidents reiterated their call for “collective and inclusive leadership,” the party interim president Sonia Gandhi held a telephonic conversation with the dissident leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, while the former president Rahul Gandhi held a long discussion with the former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Hooda, also among the 23 dissident leaders. Azad is expected to meet Sonia Gandhi after Thursday’s G-2 meeting.
Ever since the dissidents had given a call for structural changes in the party set up instead of all powers being centralised with the Gandhi family at the top two years ago, there had been little interactions between the high command and the dissidents. The high command had also kept postponing the organisational election schedule due to the elections in various states which is now slated to be held in August-September.
Upset with the stance of the loyalists at the Working Committee, which insists on reaffirming the leadership of the Gandhis despite serial losses, the dissidents have been having a series of meetings since Friday. This time, the CWC, the party’s highest decision-making body — had turned down Sonia Gandhi’s offer to step down from all posts with her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Yesterday 18 leaders — a mix of dissidents and some newcomers from across six states — met to discuss the way forward after the party’s latest drubbing in state elections. The Congress has lost Punjab and had been practically wiped out in Uttar Pradesh and the other states.
After the meeting, the leaders pitched for a “collective, inclusive leadership” and demanded that the Congress be proactive to create a platform with other like-minded parties to take on the BJP in 2024. There was no word on organizational elections or a non-Gandhi leader at the top which they had been angling for.
Sources said the leaders had decided against splitting from the party at present. The reasoning was that given its weak state, it might altogether crumble. Azad — one of the 23 leaders – had written the explosive letter to Sonia Gandhi demanding organisational elections and a complete overhaul of its leadership.
Sonia Gandhi is open for talks to every Congressman,” senior party leader and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said. “When it is needed that we should fight together, some politicians are making statements against the party. If they have the right intentions, why don’t they talk to Sonia Gandhi?” he questioned.
Earlier in the day, Hooda – who was present at yesterday’s dissidents gathering — met Rahul Gandhi after an outreach from the former Congress president discussing revamping the party and the way forward. Hooda was one of the few mass leaders present at yesterday’s gathering, which included Manishankar Aiyar, Raj Babbar, and Shashi Tharoor.
Since the first G-23 letter, the Gandhi family loyalists have been questioning the motives of the dissidents, alleging that they were unhappy about the lean prospects within the Congress. With the party losing ground steadily with every election, Rajya Sabha seats are no longer easy to come by, they have indicated.
Hooda and Azad were reported to have discussed concrete proposals to strengthen the Congress and ensure collective leadership and decision making as demanded by the grouping which met on Wednesday and signed a joint statement.
Sources said Deputy Leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha and another G-23 leader Anand Sharma also joined Hooda at Azad’s residence in the deliberations.
The grouping had yesterday said the “only way forward for the Congress was to adopt a model of inclusive and collective leadership and decision making at all levels.” The G-23 sources said they want to strengthen the Congress and “not undermine it in any way.”
And for the first time, they made the meeting official by issuing a statement signed by 18 leaders. “We the… members of the Congress party met to deliberate on the demoralising outcome of the recent results of the Assembly elections and the constant exodus of both our workers and leaders. We believe that the only way forward is for the Congress party to adopt the model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision-making at all levels,” the statement said.
“In order to oppose the BJP, it is necessary to strengthen the Congress party. We demand the Congress party to initiate dialogue with other like-minded forces to create a platform to pave the way for a credible alternative for 2024,” it said.
Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari, Hooda, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Raj Babbar, Shashi Tharoor, Shankarsinh Vaghela, Aiyar, P J Kurien, M A Khan, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Sandeep Dikshit, Kuldeep Sharma, Vivek Tankha and Praneet Kaur were among the signatories.
“We are not going to leave the Congress until we are thrown out. We will keep insisting that there has to be democratisation of the party. And to democratise the party and build a credible alternative to the BJP for 2024, we will be traveling across the country to mobilise public opinion on the above objectives,” a party leader who attended the meeting said.
