New Delhi | Jagran Politics Desk: Congress has dismissed media reports that Sonia Gandhi has stepped down from the post of party's interim president. Speaking with news agency ANI, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "Reports of Sonia Gandhi resigning from the post of Congress interim president are false."
Earlier various media reports said that Gandhi has offered to step down as interim president making way for the party to choose a new chief.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is scheduled on Monday could be a stormy affair amid growing demand for drastic changes and reform in the Grand Old Party. Notably, it will be the first meeting of the party since Sonia Gandhi completed one year as the interim chief. T
Different voices have emerged within the party with one section comprising sitting MPs and former ministers demanding collective leadership, while another group has sought the return of Rahul Gandhi to the helm.
While two dozen Congress leaders including some ex-ministers have written to party president Sonia Gandhi for overhaul of the organizational structure and changes to the leadership, some leaders close to Rahul have also written to the CWC pressing for the Gandhi scion's return as chief.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, party MPs and former Union ministers Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor are among the signatories of the letter.
These leaders have called for bringing changes in the organization by effecting reforms through decentralisation of power and empowerment of state units besides setting up of the central Parliamentary Board, a body that existed in the party in the 1970s but was later wound up.
The letter called for the appointment of a full-time leadership which is active and which can be easily contacted by workers and leaders.
The letter also called for free and fair organizational polls from the block up to the working committee level. It also called for an "honest introspection", suggested a "collective leadership", and stressed that the "youth are losing confidence" in the party.
It also acknowledged the rise of the BJP and admitted that the youth decisively voted for Narendra Modi. It further expressed concern over the erosion of the support base of the party.
These leaders argued that in the absence of a direct dialogue with the Congress chief over strengthening of the party, revival of the party has become imperative in the interest of democracy in the country.
The letter also pointed out that the party’s steady decline comes when the country faces its “gravest political, social and economic challenges since Independence.”
The letter said the CWC meetings seem “episodic” and the meetings of Congress Parliamentary Party have been reduced to the customary address of CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi and obituary references.
On Monday, the Congress had rubbished a tweet by former spokesperson Sanjay Jha that said around 100 Congress leaders have written to Sonia Gandhi asking for a change in the political leadership.
The leaders also said even over a year after the Lok Sabha election defeat, the party has not undertaken any “honest introspection” to find out reasons for its continued “decline”.
Posted By: Rakesh Kumar Jha
