Sonia Gandhi steps down, asks Congress party to choose new leader

Resmi Sivaram, Correspondent 

The ailing leader took the decision after several leaders wrote a letter to her seeking an overhaul of the party leadership.

The letter came as the party’s top decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) has been scheduled to meet on Monday.

The developments bring out conflicts within the party, which lost power in 2014 and has virtually remained in the wilderness ever since.

Sonia said that her tenure as the interim president for one year is over and she is willing to step down from the party president’s post and that the party should choose a new chief.

Sources said there are two streams of thinking in the Congress now.

One section of leaders support Rahul Gandhi’s return as chief. Another section seeks a new president from outside the Gandhi family, a stand that Rahul himself had taken as he bowed out after the 2019 election disaster.

A letter signed by more than 20 top leaders of the party has sought a “full-time, visible” leadership. Among signatories are senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Prithviraj Chavan, Vivek Tankha and Anand Sharma. One of the key elements of the letter is that they have cited the “decisive support” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys among the youth.

The leaders, however, made it clear there is no criticism of Rahul.

The letter in fact praises Rahul and Sonia and vows a committment to being an integral part of the “collective leadership.” Among demands that the leaders have made is an “honest introspection.” There should be a “collective leadership,” they said, and stressed that the “youth are losing confidence” in the party.

Decentralisation of power, empowerment of state units and organisational elections at every level are also demanded.

The letter was also prompted by a situation where Rahul is controlling the party without being accountable, sources said. Some leaders feel that Rahul was not willing to take up the responsibility, but still remote-controlling the party. He must come clean and state whether he wants to lead the party. If not, a collective leadership must take charge and overhaul the internal workings of the party, the leaders feel.

Those who back Rahul as president say he has the “mettle, capability and aptitude to once again lead the party.”

Tharoor tweeted a quote by Jawaharlal Nehru that read, “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. We have become prisoners of the past and some part of its immobility sticks to us.” Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, the only Congress strongman in power, on Sunday said Sonia Gandhi should continue “as long as she wants to be the president of the party.” He said Rahul Gandhi should thereafter take over as he is fully competent to lead the party.

This is not the right time to raise the leadership issue in the party, Singh said. What is needed is a strong opposition against the BJP-led NDA that was out to destroy the country’s Constitutional ethos and democratic principles.

“The NDA’s success was attributable to the absence of a strong and united Opposition, and the move by these Congress leaders to demand a rehaul of the party at this critical juncture would be detrimental to its interests, and the interests of the nation,” Singh said.

“India is currently facing not just external dangers from across the border but also internal threats to its federal structure, he said, adding that a unified Congress alone could protect the country and its people.” Singh highlighted “the immense contribution” of the Gandhi family to the country’s progress since it achieved freedom from the British rule.

“What Congress needs is a leadership that is acceptable not just to a few but to the entire party, through its rank and file, and the nation at large, he said, adding that the Gandhis were the right fit for this role. Sonia Gandhi should continue to helm the Congress as long as she wanted, he said, and added that Rahul should thereafter take over as he was fully competent to lead the party.”