Sonia to continue as interim Congress chief, CWC says no one can be permitted to undermine the party

After marathon and dramatic events in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday, the loyalists have turned the tables on the dissenters as the CWC has decided that Sonia Gandhi will continue as interim party chief till a new President is elected and the next meeting will be called in six months.

New Delhi: Over a year after it chose Sonia Gandhi as interim president of the party, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday again unanimously requested her "to continue to lead the Indian National Congress" until such time as circumstances will permit an AICC session to be convened. The crucial meeting of CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, adopted a resolution which authorised Sonia Gandhi to affect necessary organisational changes that she may deem appropriate to take on the challenges faced by the party.

Apart from hailing the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, the CWC also lauded the role of party leader Rahul Gandhi, saying he has resolutely led the fight against the BJP-led government from the front.

With the meeting held in the backdrop of a collective letter written by over 20 senior leaders and the strong opposition to the move from within the party including by its chief ministers, the resolution said, "CWC makes it clear that no one will be or can be permitted to undermine or weaken the party and its leadership at this juncture".

It said the responsibility of every Congress worker and leader today is to fight the pernicious assault on India's democracy, pluralism and diversity by the Modi Government. The resolution said inner-party issues cannot be deliberated through the media or in public for and urged and advises all concerned to raise such issues only in party fora in the interest of propriety and discipline.

The letter by over 20 leaders in which they had sought sweeping changes including "full time" active leadership, a mechanism for collective leadership to guide the party's revival and demanded elections to CWC, figured during the meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also making a reference to it.

The resolution also took note of the letter which caused some inner party friction. "The Congress Working Committee takes note of the letter of Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressed to General Secretary (Organisation) as also a letter written earlier by certain Congress leaders to the Congress President," it said.

The resolution, read out by party leaders KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, said the CWC "extensively deliberated" on the letters and noted that the last six months have seen the nation in "the throes of multiple crises".

"We have been beset by the corona pandemic that continues to claim thousands of lives, downward-spiralling economy, massive job losses and growing poverty, and brazen aggression into and occupation of Indian territory by the Chinese," the resolution said.

The CWC said that the two voices "that have been at the forefront of exposing the government's inadequate responses, divisive politics and audacious propaganda" are of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Smt. "Sonia Gandhi's hard questions on the handling of the migrants' crisis put this government to shame.

She ensured that Congress-ruled states tackled the pandemic effectively and provided access to healthcare and treatment to all sections of the people. Her leadership has rankled and embarrassed those occupying the highest offices in this Government," the resolution said. "Rahul Gandhi has resolutely led the fight against the government from the front. The CWC, reflecting the overwhelming view and desire of the rank and file of the Congress, unanimously resolved to strengthen the hands of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in every possible way," it added.

The CWC said "voices of our two leaders have inspired a generation of Indians, both within and outside of the Indian National Congress", to rise and demand answers from this Government "which seeks to desperately distract the people through shallow and manufactured issues".

"It is under their leadership that crores of Congress workers and supporters have reached out to fill the large, callous gaps in governance left by this government as a result of which millions belonging to the poor and middle classes have been unjustly deprived of their rights and their livelihoods," the resolution said.

"The CWC authorises the Congress President to affect necessary organisational changes that she may deem appropriate to take on the challenges listed above. In the light of the above deliberations and conclusions, the CWC unanimously requests Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead the Indian National Congress until such time as circumstances will permit an AICC session to be convened," the resolution said.

Some of the leaders who had written the collective letter took part in the virtual CWC meeting, which lasted over seven hours. Venugopal said they had also endorsed the resolution. Sonia Gandhi was appointed as an interim President on August 10, 2019, by the CWC after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as party chief, taking the responsibility for the party's disastrous defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi had earlier helmed the party as its chief for nearly nineteen years.

(ANI)