The clamour for Rahul Gandhi to take over as the party president forthwith was the overriding sentiment at the AICC headquarters in the closed-door CWC meeting, as also outside among the Youth Congress members, with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel silencing those blaming him for the poll debacle. They and other loyalists turned the tables on those putting Rahul and his sister Priyanka in the pillory for the miserable electoral performance. Instead, they urged Rahul to return to the helm and desist from backseat driving on behalf of party chief Sonia Gandhi.
Party sources said at least 4-5 rebels from the ‘dissident’ Group of 23, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik, who were present in the meeting, preferred not to launch the expected tirade against the Gandhis except to call for expediting the organisational elections and not wait till October for the election of the new party president and the CWC members.
There was no point in engaging in a blame game at this crucial time, when the Congress is in a bad shape, the rebels pointed out in an aside.
Sonia Gandhi, who chaired the CWC meeting, did not give any indication of her thought process and her opening remarks were not circulated unlike in the past. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is not in good health, and former defence minister A K Antony, down with Covid, were among half a dozen seniors who did not attend. Ahead of the meeting, Ashok Gehlot set the tone by asking Rahul to take over as president to ensure the party remains united. He said winning and losing are part of politics and it should not be used as a pretext to oust anyone from leadership. He said the Congress lost because of the BJP's "dangerous politics" of misleading the people in the name of Hindutva.
Baghel also criticised those trying to attack the Gandhis. "They talk about the family, but the reality is that no one from the family has become the prime minister, chief minister or minister. But why is the leadership of the party still given to them? (Because) people of all walks of life have faith in the family and the family is necessary to strengthen the Congress," Gehlot asserted.
Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar tweeted that Rahul "should immediately take up the Congress presidency as a full-time role. This is the wish of millions of Congress workers like me."
Youth Congress chief Srinivas B V said the Gandhi family is the “thread that binds together not only the Congress but all sections of the country and itis not dependent on any electoral victory or defeat.’’
