23 Congress leaders write to Sonia Gandhi, seek major changes in the party

The signatories cutting across various age groups and regions, include senior Congress leaders, former union ministers and ex-CMs

In a rare move, 23 senior leaders of the Congress party have flagged the leadership issue in a letter to Sonia Gandhi, according to a report in The Indian Express. 

The leaders have called for major organisational reforms. According to the Indian Express report, the leaders have acknowledged that the party is losing its support base and also the confidence of the youth, who are voting for Narendra Modi. The letter was sent a fortnight ago, says the report.

The letter accessed by the newspaper acknowledges the return of Narendra Modi's government with clear mandate and calls for a “full time and effective leadership” which is both “visible” and “active” in the field. The leaders have also requested for transparent elections to the CWC, seen over the years as a formality for a party that has been led by Nehru-Gandhi family.

In the letter, the signatories have flagged issues related to uncertainty in leadership and "drift" which have demoralised the party's workers. It also underlines the episodic interventions by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and have sought an institutional mechanism to guide the party.

The signatories cut across various age groups and regions of the country and include leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad; party MPs and former union ministers Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor; MP Vivek Tankha; AICC office bearers and CWC members including Mukul Wasnik and Jitin Prasada and former Chief Ministers and Union Ministers including Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Rajender Kaur Bhattal, M Veerappa Moily, Prithviraj Chavan, P J Kurian, Ajay Singh, Renuka Chaudhary, and Milind Deora; former PCC chiefs Raj Babbar (UP), Arvinder Singh Lovely (Delhi) and Kaul Singh Thakur (Himachal); current Bihar campaign chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, former Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma; former Delhi Speaker Yoganand Shastri and former MP Sandeep Dixit, the paper reported.

The leaders have pointed out in the letter for a decentralisation of power, empowerment of state units, elections to the Congress organisation at all levels at a time when the country is going through a pandemic, facing a stand-off with China, unemployment, economic recession and challenges of BJP and Sangh Parivar's 'decisive and communal agenda.'

The letter calls for an introspection for the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, decisive action to gain trust for party's revival and talks of reuniting the Opposition and rallying parties headed by the leaders who have left Congress in the past.

The letter also acknowledges the leadership provided by Sonia Gandhi which it mentions will always be a part of the 'collective leadership', according to the report.