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 on August 24 after 23 top leaders wrote to interim 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. The drama unfolded as the leaders from the faction who had written the letter came under attack from a rival group comprising leaders who support Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi, who quit the party president’s post last year after the 2019 general election rout, reportedly took strong exception to the letter. He called it “ill-timed” and said the whole exercise was done in “collusion with the BJP”, much to the annoyance of letter-writing faction of the party.

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Former prime minister Manmohan Singh was first among the leaders urging Sonia Gandhi to reconsider her decision. Another senior leader AK Antony was next to join the clamour, terming the letter “cruel”. He said if Sonia Gandhi doesn’t continue, Rahul Gandhi should take over.

In response, senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal, both former Union ministers and part of the group that wrote the letter, said they were upset by Rahul Gandhi’s “collusion with the BJP” remark. While Sibal went public and tweeted he had never made a statement in favour of the BJP on any issue. Azad, offered to resign, reports suggested.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala was, however, quick to deny Rahul Gandhi’s statement.

“Sh. 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. But yes, we all need to work together in fighting the draconian Modi rule rather than fighting & hurting each other & the Congress,” he tweeted.

Soon, Sibal withdrew the tweet critical of Rahul Gandhi. “Was informed by Rahul Gandhi personally that he never said what was attributed to him. I therefore withdraw my tweet,” he tweeted.

Later Azad told a news channel that he had no issues with Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi but had offered to resign on others' charges.

Apart from Sibal and Azad, the leaders who had signed the letter included Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, Vivek Tankha, Mansh Tewari, Milind Deora, Renuka Chowdhury, Verappa Moily, among others.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Amarinder Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, PL Punia, KC Venugopal, and AK Antony, among other leaders, are present at the meeting.

Apart from Manmohan Singh and AK Antony those siding with Gandhis include Punjab Chief Minister  Amarinder Singh, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. V Narayanasamy, chief minister of Puducherry also echoed a similar sentiment as his fellow Congress chief ministers Before the meeting, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Ministers Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath also tweeted in support of Sonia Gandhi“.

"Any suggestion or insinuation that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s leadership is in question is absurd. I appeal to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi to give strength to the Congress Party by continuing as President and lead the Congress,” Kamal Nath said.

Digvijaya Singh, like many other leaders, suggested that Rahul should take over as president. “If Sonia ji does wish to step down then Rahul ji should accept the post of President while giving up his stubbornness,” he said in a tweet.

Political analysts following developments foresee a turmoil within the Congress party. “Either there will be a clear rift within the party or some prominent leaders will quit,” Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) told Moneycontrol.

In 1999 too, when Sonia Gandhi stepped down from the post of the president what followed was a resignation spree of Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh in Madhya Pradesh, Sheila Dikshit in Delhi, Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan apart from a pan-India agitation against her decision to step down.  On May 24, 1999, Sonia Gandhi, however, withdrew her resignation and three dissenting leaders, Sharad Pawar, PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar were expelled from the party for six years.