Key points of letter written by Congress leaders seeking change in leadership

NEW DELHI: After marathon and dramatic events in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday (August 24), the 'loyalists' succeeded in turning the tables on the 'dissenters' as the Congress Working Committee decided that Sonia Gandhi will continue as interim party chief till a new party president is elected and the next meeting will be called in six months.

However, Sonia, during the meeting, expressed her displeasure on the letter unprecedented letter sent to her by 23 senior Congress leaders, that called for changes within the party. "I am hurt but they are my colleagues so lets forget and work together." She added that an AICC session will be held within the next six months to elect the next party chief," she stated during the meet.  

A fortnight ago, 23 Congress leaders, including both veterans and the youth brigade, signed a letter demanding a revamp of the organisation. Congress leaders who signed the letter include names like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Vivek Tankha, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Raj Babbar, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Sandeep Dikshit, Veerappa Moily, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, PJ Kurien, Prithviraj Chavan and Renuka Chowdhury.

Below are the five key points of the letter: 

The letter demanded changes from top to bottom in the Congress party and a revamp of the entire organisation. 

It demanded that Congress elect a full-time president and a mechanism for collective leadership to guide the party's revival.

It said that the Congress Working Committee, which is the highest decision making body of the party, should hold elections so that full-time president gets elected. 

It said that election should be held at block level, CWC level and at the level of the All India Congress Committee.

A new front should be formed against the BJP, in which there are former Congress leaders and such parties who oppose the BJP.

After this, leaders close to the Gandhi family started opposing these 23 leaders, and terming the writing of the letter to Sonia as 'anti-party activity'.

Former Union Defence Minister AK Antony termed the letter 'cruel', while his colleague Ambika Soni described the missive as unfortunate and said the party had given Azad a lot. 

Sources said Ghulam Nabi Azad offered to resign at the meeting amid questions being raised on the letter, its timing and its leakage to the media.

Sonia also referred to Ghulam Nabi Azad twice in her opening remarks, saying he had even sent a reminder to his letter, the sources said. To this she had said she had given her reply to KC Venugopal expressing her desire to be relieved of the post and the party should initiate the process to find her replacement.

While most leaders backed Sonia's continuation as party chief, there were some who proposed Rahul Gandhi's return as president, the sources said. Giving details of the proceedings, they said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel urged Rahul Gandhi to take charge in case Sonia Gandhi wishes to withdraw.

Venugopal read out the letter written by Sonia Gandhi and criticised the party leaders who were behind the letter.

The letter was also criticised by Rahul who in his speect during the CWC meet questioned the timing of the letter sent to the interim Congress president while she was at Delhi's Gangaram hospital and under medication. "It is the CWC and not the media where we put out our thoughts and discuss," Rahul is learnt to have said at the meeting, the sources said.

Besides Azad, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik and Jitin Prasada also part of the CWC and attended the meeting divided between those demanding collective leadership and those reposing faith in the Gandhi family.

Almost all Lok Sabha MPs of the party have written to Sonia Gandhi expressing solidarity and urging her to continue in her post or install Rahul Gandhi.

The letter is the second challenge to Sonia's leadership after 1999 when then leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar raised the issue of her foreign origins in order to keep her from being named the party's prime ministerial face in the general elections that year.

Sonia then resigned in the CWC, which rejected her move unanimously bringing her back as party president. While Sonia Gandhi went on to become the longest serving Congress president, Pawar and rebels quit to form the NCP.