Congress Working Committee meeting LIVE updates: The crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting has begun. In her opening remarks at the meeting, called in the wake of a section of leaders seeking a "full time and visible" Congress president, Sonia Gandhi made the offer to quit saying she had given a detailed reply on the issue to AICC general secretary KC Venugopal. Top Congress leaders are deliberating on the leadership issues during this virtual meeting of the party's top decision-making body. This comes after 23 senior leaders wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking a revamp of major bodies. Catch the latest updates here:
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram to news agency ANI:
I never say all is well. Have waves of the sea ever fallen silent, there will always be waves in sea. There will always be some discontent. Today we have addressed some issues. I think going forward the party will become stronger and more active.It has been clarified, nobody made that statement. Nobody alleged that anyone was colluding with BJP.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Goa Congress welcomes CWC resolution on Sonia Gandhi
Goa Congress on Monday welcomed the party working committee's (CWC) resolution urging Sonia Gandhi to continue as its interim chief till an AICC session can be convened.
"The Goa Congress welcomes the CWC's decision urging Sonia Gandhi to continue leading the party as she has the capacity to take along everyone and guide the party," Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Girish Chodankar said in a statement.
He stated that the party should collectively support Rahul Gandhi "who is fighting single-handedly against the mismanagement of economy, COVID-19 and attack on the democracy"
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Punjab Chief Minister's Office:
Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh today welcomed the unanimous resolution passed by Congress Working Committee (CWC), asking Sonia Gandhi to continue as party president till the next AICC session andauthorising her to take whatever decisions needed.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Congress: 5 presidents from Nehru-Gandhi family, 13 from outside since independence
As a leadership crisis grips the Congress, experts having chronicled the country's oldest political party said on Monday that it may be theoretically possible for the party to have a president outside the Nehru-Gandhi family, but not practically.
The party's history shows that it has had at least 13 presidents from outside the Nehru-Gandhi clan since independence as against five from its first family.
However, the family members have been at the helm for a much longer period of time as against the others.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have headed the party for the majority of the period since independence.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | KC Venugopal:
The CWC notes that internal party issues cannot be deliberated through the media or public fora. CWC urges and advises all concerned to raise such issues only in party fora.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Sonia Gandhi has also been authorised to make organisational changes within the party to "take on the challenges" listed in the party's statement, the party's leaders said during the breifing.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | KC Venugopal:
Voices of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have inspired generations. CWC unanimously requests Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead Congress party.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | KC Venugopal:
Rahul Gandhi has resolutely led the fight against the government from the front. CWC resolved to strengthen the hands of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi. The responsibility of every Congress worker and leader today is to fight the assaulton democracy and pluralism by Narendra Modi government.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | KC Venugopal:
Today we had a seven-hour long meeting. All the participants spoke and participated in the deliberations. CWChas extensively deliberated on the letters and places on record the following: Last 6 months have seen multiple crisis, including coronavirus pandemic and downward spiraling economy.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Here are the top 5 developments from the crisis within the Congress, and the CWC meeting:
>> Around 20 senior Congress leaders write to Sonia Gandhi seeking "sweeping changes" within the party.
>> Sonia Gandhi offers to quit in order to initiate process of selecting a new party chief.
>> Rahul Gandhi questions the timing of the letter, reportedly sent when Sonia Gandhi was in a hospital and under medication. He also reportedly said that the letter was written in cahoots with the BJP to benefit the latter.
>>After hours of deliberation during the CWC meeting, it was decided that Sonia Gandhi will continue to remain the interim party chief.
>>A panel willalso beformed to help Sonia Gandhi in her day-to-day functioning. An All India Congress Committee (AICC) session will be called within six months.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | PL Punia:
There is freedom to express views but discussion should be held on party forum, not in public domain, members expressed concerns over it. Sonia Gandhi ji said everyone is family andhas to strengthen party together.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
The Congress Working Committee briefing, which was scheduled for 6:45 pm, will be addressed by KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala. The briefing comes after over seven hours of deliberations between senior leaders of the party at the CWC meeting.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Senior Congress leader Abhijit Mukherjee tweets:
I welcome CWC's decision to request Madam Sonia Gandhi Ji to continue andher acceptance in this regard. She is the unifier of Congress Party andI am sure Congress will definitely rejuvenate under her Dynamic Leadership.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
No action will be taken against those who wrote the letter, reports suggest.Rahul Gandhi also suggested that a panel be set up to help Sonia.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | PL Punia:
Members expressed faith in Sonia Gandhi andRahul Gandhi andurged her to continue leading party, she agreed. Next meeting to be called soon, probably within 6 months, to elect new chief. Till then, Sonia Gandhi agreed to remain interim president.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Congress will hold a breifing regarding today's CWC meeting at 6:45 pm, according to reports.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Sources to Moneycontrol:
After hours of deliberation during the CWC meeting, Sonia Gandhi will continue to remain the interim party chief. A panel has also been formed to help Sonia Gandhi in her day-to-day functioning. An All India Congress Committee (AICC) session will be called within six months.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Sources to Moneycontrol:
“Congress is one big family and I don’t hold anything against anyone. But all, especially senior leaders should raise concerns at the party forum only,” Sonia Gandhi said in her concluding remarks at the CWC meeting.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Sources to News18:
No major decision regarding a change in the leadership is likely at the CWC meet today, and Sonia Gandhi is likely to remain the interim chief for a few months, until the elections for the post are carried out.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Who said what at the crucial meeting:
A lot of things were said, and a lot of opinions were expressed during the Congress Working Committee meeting today. Here's a round up of what the senior leaders of the party had to say about the unprecedented crisis facing the grand old party:
Rahul Gandhi:According to reports, the former party chiefquestioned the timing of the letter by a section of the party and attacked them for going public against the leadership, saying differences needed to be discussed in party platforms and not the media.In his brief moving intervention at the CWC, Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have said why that timing was chosen to send the letter when Sonia Gandhi was in hospital and the party was fighting the BJP in Rajasthan, insinuating that such a letter at the time would help the BJP, according to reports.
Sonia Gandhi:In her opening remarks at the meeting, called in the wake of a section of leaders seeking a "full time and visible" Congress president, Sonia Gandhi made the offer to quit saying she had given a detailed reply on the issue to AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.
Manmohan Singh:The former Prime Minister asked Gandhi to continue as the party's president until a full session of All India Congress Committee is convened and process of scouting for a new president could begin. He also called the letter "unfortunate". (1/2)
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Sources to news agency ANI:
Leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi over party leadership said in CWC thatthere were some concerns for the betterment of the organisation, wrote letter to convey those. Have full faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. During the meeting,Ambika Soni said as per party constitution action can be taken against those who wrote to Sonia Gandhi on party leadership. GN Azad, Anand Sharma said they were within limits in raising concerns, still,if someone feels it's breach of discipline action can be taken.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Dissident Congress leader Mukul Wasnik, during the CWC said that he owes "a lot" to Sonia Gandhi and that "Nobody can question my loyalty to the Congress party", sources said. Wasnik was reportedly one of the 23 senior party leaders who had signed the letter.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Sources also told Moneycontrol's Gulam Jeelani that senior Congress leader RPN Singh, during the meeting,praised Sonia Gandhi for being available ‘24x7’to guide the party duringJharkhandelections. “We won the elections. I want to tell allCWCmembers that we should all learn from Sonia Gandhi,” he told theCWC. Singh wanted Sonia Gandhi to continue on the post till a new president is elected.
Congress, in alliance with Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had won the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly polls. The party had bagged 16 of the state's 82Assembly seats.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Rahul Gandhi should take over as Congress Prez immediately, says Ahmed Patel
During the ongoing meeting, Ahmed Patel criticised the dissenters, sources told Moneycontrol's Gulam Jeelani.Referring to Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mukul Wasnik and Anand Sharma, Patelsaid they are occupying key posts in the party and should not have written such a letter. He also said that Rahul Gandhi should take over as Congress president immediately, according to sources.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Reports suggest that even as the CWC meeting continues, some senior leaders have backed Rahul Gandhi and called for his return while others, reportedly veterans within the party, want Sonia to continue leading the grand old party.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Congress leadership crisis: What we know so far about the CWC ruckus
The rift within the Congress party was out in the open during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting that commenced onAugust 24after 23 top leaders wrote tointerim chief Sonia Gandhi seeking an organisational overall,among other things.
The virtual meeting started with Sonia Gandhi, 73, announcing her decision to step down as interim president.
What more do we know about the crisis within the Congress? Here's a primer.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Congress turmoil comes before crucial polls, and after two state-level crises:
The crisis within the grand old party has come after the party faced two political turmoils in two major ruling states. The first, in March, resulted in the Congress government's fall after senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia left the party to join the BJP. The second, in Rajasthan, where deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot had rebelled, resulted in a truce between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Pilot's camps.
The present crisis comes before the crucial Bihar Assembly polls.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | 'Hasn't said a word of this nature': Congress denies Rahul's 'colluding with BJP' remark
The Congress on Monday denied that Rahul Gandhi had accused any party leader of "colluding with the BJP", saying he "has not said" a word of that nature nor alluded to it.
According to reports, at theCongress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the party leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi seeking several organisational reforms, including a collective leadership and dissolution of powers to the party's state units.
Sources present at the meeting told news agency PTI thatGandhi was furious about the timing of letter and it being leaked to the media, and appeared to suggest whether these leaders were "colluding with the BJP".
Soon after senior leader Kapil Sibal tweeted about any such insinuation, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "Rahul Gandhi hasn't said a word of this nature nor alluded to it. Please don't be misled by false media discourse or misinformation being spread."
Deleting his tweet aimed at Rahul Gandhi, Sibal later said, "Was informed by Rahul Gandhi personally that he never said what was attributed to him. I therefore withdraw my tweet.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | How it all started:
The crisis within Congress came out in open after over 20 senior leaders of the party reportedly wrote a letter to the party chief Sonia Gandhi asking for "sweeping changes". Who are theseleaders?
LoP in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad; Five fomer CMs including Bhupinder Singh Hooda and PrithvirajChavan;AICC office bearers and CWC members, including Mukul Wasnik and Jitin Prasada, former Union Ministers, including Bhupinder Singh Hooda, M Veerappa Moily, Prithviraj Chavan, PJ Kurian, Ajay Singh, Renuka Chaudhary and Milind Deora.
Former PCC chiefs Raj Babbar (UP), Arvinder Singh Lovely (Delhi) and Kaul Singh Thakur (Himachal) are also part of the letter which has been signed by current Bihar campaign chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, former Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma and former Delhi Speaker Yoganand Shastri.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Ghulam Nabi Azad to news channel NDTV:
Resignation offer on others' charge. Rahul Gandhi didn't attack us. No issues with him or Sonia Gandhi.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Here are the top 5 developments from the crisis within the Congress, and the ongoing CWC meeting:
>> Around 20 senior Congress leaders write to Sonia Gandhi seeking "sweeping changes" within the party.
>> Sonia Gandhi offers to quit in order to initiate process of selecting a new party chief.
>> Rahul Gandhi questions the timing of the letter, reportedly sent when Sonia Gandhi was in a hospital and under medication. He also reportedly said that the letter was written in cahoots with the BJP to benefit the latter.
>> This comment drew criticism from some of Congress' top leaders, including Kapil Sibal, who took to Twitter to react. Another senior party leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said that he will resign from the party if the alleged link between the letter and BJP is proved.
>> Sibal withdrew the tweet after Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala clarified that no such remark was made.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Here's how Congress elects its president:
>>After declaration of the election procedure, delegates can file their nominations according to the specified date. The nominations are then scrutinised and a final list of candidates is published. After which, candidates are given a seven-day window to withdraw their nomination if they wish to do so.
>>In a situation where only one candidate is contesting the election, he or she is declared the winner. The president officially takes charge starting from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) plenary session. Till the plenary session, the winner is called as the 'President-elect'.
>>In a situation where there are multiple candidates, the winner has to secure more than 50 percent of the total votes fromAICC delegates.
>> Party rules state that, if in case, no candidate is able to secure more than 50 percent votes as the first preference, the second preferences would be counted.
>>If the election process is disrupted due to any unforeseen circumstance, the CWC has the power to appoint a provisional President till the time, the process is completed. (2/2)
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | How does Congress elect its president?
Sonia Gandhi reportedly said during the ongoing CWC meet that Congress should elect a new president— which is easier said than done, since the grand old party has its own mechanism to elect its head.
The 131-year old political party has its own constitution which has laid down elaborate procedure to elect its President. Here's how it elects its highest leader:
>> Top leaders of the party are members of a top executive body called the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
>> Following a meeting of the CWC, the party's election committee sets an election schedule.
>> All members of the Pradesh Congress Committees are delegates to the party according to Article XII of the party's constitution.
>> It takes ten delegates of the party to jointly propose any other delegate's name for the post of the party President. The term of the Congress president is five years. (1/2)
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Congress leader Salman Nizami tweets:
Ghulam Nabi Azad sahib, serving the nation and the party for 48 years, will continue to be in vanguard. Survived two dozen terrorist plots. All attempts by godi media to create fake stories fake quotes and fake sources to target him and Congress will fall flat. Satyamev Jayate!
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Uma Bharti is not the first leader from the BJP camp to have commented on the unprecedented crisis within the Congress. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had earlier said that Congress is going through an existential crisis and that the party is "bound to sink". Another BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, Narottam Mishra, too, had taken a dig at the party saying that the party is a "school where the principal's child always tops the exams".
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | BJP leader Uma Bharti:
Gandhi-Nehru family's existence is in crisis, their political dominance is over, Congress is finished.. so who stays in what position hardly matters now... Congress should return to Gandhi, the real 'swadeshi' Gandhi without any foreign element.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Asaduddin Owaisi tweets:
Poetic Justice...GHULAM NABI sb u'd accused me of exactly this. Now you're accused of the same. 45 years of ghulami for this? Now it's proven that anyone opposing Janeudhari leadership will be branded B-Team I hope Muslims now know the high cost of loyalty to Congress.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Convince Rahul to become Cong President if your health does not permit full-fledged dedication: Siddaramaiah to Sonia
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday urged interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi to convince Rahul Gandhi to take up the party's top post if her health does not permit for full-fledged dedication.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly requested Sonia Gandi to continue as AICC president.
"And if you feel that your health may not permit for full-fledged dedication, I urge you to convince Shri Rahul Gandhi to take up the position," Siddaramaiah said in a letter to Sonia Gandhi.
CWC meeting LIVE Updates | A look at past such crises for Congress
This is not the first time that the Grand Old Party finds itself face-to-face with a crisis within its ranks.
Following the assassination of her husband and former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi on Mar 21, 1991, Sonia Gandhi refused to join the party. In 1997, however, she became a primary member of the party.
Prior to that, former Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao and former Union Minister Sitaram Kesari had led the party. Their tenures were, however, cut short in the wake of internal revolt.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates | Even as the crucial CWC meet continues,
here's what we know so far about the unprecedented crisis within the grand old party:
>> It started with over 23 senior party leaders writing to Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking "sweeping changes" within the party.
>> These leaders included, but were not limited to, former Chief Ministers, Union Ministers and a current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
>> Following this, a number of leaders within the party threw their weight behind the Gandhis. This included leaders from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, among others.
>> Reports had then suggested that Sonia Gandhi may offer to resign as the president during the meeting.
>>Sonia Gandhi asked members to elect a new party president. However, former prime minister Manmohan Singh asked her to continue. Former Defence Minister AK Antony termed the letter, written by 23 senior leaders of the party, cruel.
>> Congress leaders also took to social media to express their opinions on the development, and some to rubbish claims. For instance, while Sibal slammed Rahul Gandhi for a remark, senior party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala clarified that Gandhi had, in fact, made no such remark, after which Sibal has now deleted the tweet.
CWC meeting LIVE Updates |
Meanwhile, reports now suggest that senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel has put forward Rahul Gandhi's name as the president of the Congress party.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
When Jyotiraditya Scindia raised his voice, he was accused of colluding with BJP. Now when leaders like Gulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal are demanding full-time party chief, they're also being accused of colluding with BJP. No one can save such a party, said Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Rahul Gandhi hasn’t said a word of this nature nor alluded to it.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal deleted his tweet in which he hit out at Rahul Gandhi over his reported remarks that the leaders who have written to Sonia Gandhi for organisational overhaul were "colluding with the BJP".
"Was informed by Rahul Gandhi personally that he never said what was attributed to him . I therefore withdraw my tweet," posted Sibal.
Read the full article here
Replying to Rahul Gandhi's allegations where he said that senior leaders are colluding with BJP, Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on August 24 came out strongly in opoosition and said that he had never made a statement in favour of Congress' political opponent BJP in his 30 years with the party
Sibal questioned Rahul Gandhi's decision to criticise the letter written by leaders to the grand old party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during the Congress Working Committee today, attacked a section of the party for going public against the leadership, and charged that the letter seeking leadership changes was written in cahoots with the BJP.
The charge invited sharp rebuttals from former ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal. Azad said he would resign if any such link is established.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
The crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee is underway amid divisions in the party over the leadership issue. The party is divided on the leadership matter with a section demanding collective leadership and another reposing faith in the Gandhi family.
Around 20 party leaders had written to Sonia Gandhi demanding a full-time, visible president and overhauling of the organisational structure including elections to the CWC and reconstitution of the Parliamentary board.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Ghulam Nabi Azad are among the 23 party leaders who have written to Sonia Gandhi seeking a "full-time" leadership that is active in the field and "visible" in party offices, dissolution of powers to state units and revamping the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in line with the party constitution, among other changes.
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti launched a scathing attack on the Congress party over the leadership tussle and said, “Gandhi-Nehru family has lost its relevance. Congress should return to the original swadeshi Gandhi and give up the videshi Gandhi.” (CNN News18)
CWC Meeting LIVE Updates |
Dear Rahul Ji, If we are colluding with the BJP, then Boris Johnson is a fairness cream: Former Congressman Sanjay Jha on Twitter
