New Delhi: The key internal meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) tomorrow is likely to put an end to a long-pending debate over leadership crisis as top Congress leaders have called for major organizational reforms within the party. CWC leaders, MPs, former Union Ministers have written a letter to party's interim Chief Sonia Gandhi pointing out the deep crisis and has sought sweeping reforms.
The rendezvous is going to be convened on a new virtual platform 'WebEx' and the meeting ID will be given to leaders just before the meeting, aiming to avoid any chance of hacking or video leak from the meeting.
The senior party leaders have expressed their concern over the 'uncertainty' and 'drift' in the party. The members have asserted over the need of an 'honest introspection' and 'full time and effective leadership which is both 'active' as well as 'visible' in the field.
"This letter is an internal matter of Congress party. I won't be able to share the details. These concerns will be discussed in the meeting tomorrow," said an ex-MP of the party.
The 23 leaders who've signed this letter are Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Bhupinder Hooda, Manish Tewari, Vivek Tankha, Mukul Wasik, M Veerappa Moily, Jitin Prasada, Prithviraj Chavan, PJ Kurian, Ajay Singh, Renuka Chowdhary, Milind Deora, Rajender Kaur Bhattal, Raj Babbar, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Kuldeep Sharma, Yoganand Shastri, Kaul Singh Thakur and Sandeep Dikshit.
The letter also sought conduct of elections for the highest decision-making body and said that the Nehru-Gandhi family will always remain an integral part of the 'collective leadership'.
However, earlier this week, Congress party refuted the claim of its sacked spokesperson, Sanjay Jha's claim that 100 Congress leaders have written to Sonia Gandhi, asking for a change in political leadership and transparent elections in CWC.
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Replying to his claim, Congress Chief Spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala called him a 'BJP stooge' and alleged that the 'non-existent' letter was an attempt to divert the attention from Facebook controversy.
Today, Jha tweeted, "Around 300 Congress leaders from all over the country, representing all regions and states are signatories to the letter over and above the 23 seniors already in the public domain. Their names remain undisclosed as that would distract from the core message of the letter itself."
According to the sources, Congress is also mulling over the appointment of two vice-presidents. Along with this, an organizational reshuffle is also being on cards in which new faces can be brought up for some key posts within the Congress party.
Soon after the letter was being reported, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted a quote of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, saying, "Without passion and urge, there is a gradual oozing out of hope and vitality, a settling down on lower levels of existence, a slow merging into non-existence."
Clamour has also been brewing within the party after several party leaders urged Sonia Gandhi to reappoint Rahul Gandhi as Party Chief stating that he is the 'only' leader within the party who is continuously raising his voice against Modi Government policies.
K Suresh, one of those MPs who requested Rahul Gandhi to again take up the post, said to ETV Bharat, "We are still stuck on our demand and we are not changing our stand. There are a lot of Congress workers who feel that only Rahul Ji can fight against the anti-people policies of the Modi Government."
When asked about the letter, he replied that a 'similar letter' was being discussed within the party meeting earlier as well. "Any leader or any worker can give his/her suggestions to strengthen the party. Congress is a democratic party, there are different views and opinions. So, this will be discussed in the meeting and a unanimous decision will be taken," he further added.
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