Despite calls for a non-Gandhi Congress chief, a number of senior leaders on Sunday said that the family should continue leading the grand old party as it needed a "leadership that is acceptable to all" and a move that "does not create divisiveness".
Congress leader and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that the reason NDA succeeded is "absence of a strong, united Opposition", and a "rehaul of the party at this critical juncture would prove detrimental". He further said that the Gandhis were the "right fit for the role" as the family has made "immense contribution to the country’s progress since it achieved freedom from the British rule".
"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. India is currently facing not just external dangers from across the border but also internal threats to its federal structure," Singh said, adding that a unified Congress alone could protect the country and its people.
"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. And the Gandhis are the right fit for this role. Sonia Gandhi should continue to helm the Congress as long as she wanted. Rahul should thereafter take over as he was fully competent to lead the party," the senior Congress leader further said.
The chief minister pointed out that there was not a single village in India which did not have a Congress member to carry forward its ideology of upholding the constitutional principles, rights and freedoms. He said the credit for that went to the Gandhis, without whose "selfless commitment, dedication and unimaginable sacrifices", the party would not have stood like a rock in the path of the BJP and its "Sanghi ambitions to divide the country on the lines of caste and religion".
"At a time when the very bedrock of India's constitutional strength is under threat, it is important for every Congress man and woman to stand firmly and unitedly behind the Gandhis, who had held the party together all these decades and could continue to do so," he said.
Ahead of the Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday, different voices have emerged within the party with one section comprising sitting MPs and former ministers demanding a collective leadership, while another group has sought the return of Rahul Gandhi to the helm. Some Congress leaders, including ex-ministers, have written to party president Sonia Gandhi for the overhaul of the organisational structure and changes to the leadership.
The letter by former ministers and some MPs was believed to have been written a few weeks ago and sets the stage for a stormy Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday where issues flagged by dissenters are expected to be discussed and debated.
Rajasthan CHief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who recently survived a blow to his government after his former deputy Sachin Pilot rebelled with a few MLAs, said the news of the letter is unbelievable and if true, it is unfortunate, adding that Sonia Gandhi should lead the party at this crucial juncture.
However, he added that if she has made up her mind in this regard, then Rahul Gandhi should come ahead and become the party president.
"News of 23 senior most Congress leaders writing letter to Hon’ble CP is unbelievable and if it is true - it’s very unfortunate was no need to go in media I strongly believe that Hon’ble CP Smt Sonia Gandhi ji should continue to lead the party at this crucial juncture Where the fight is to save the ethos of our Democracy. She has always taken challenges head on. But if she has made up her mind -I believe @RahulGandhishould come ahead and be the Congress President as country faces the biggest challenge to save our Constitution -Democracy," he wrote on Twitter.
Maharashtra Congress chief and state minister Balasaheb Thorat urged Rahul Gandhi to come back as not just the party, but the entire country needs him. "Come back, Rahulji". Not only the Congress party but the entire country needs you.@RahulGandhi @INCIndia," Thorat said.
Stating that the crisis that the country is going through can only be dealt with under the leadership of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the entire nation and party workers stood with the mother-son duo.
Baghel posted a copy of his letter to Gandhi on his Twitter account wherein he wrote, "Gandhi-Nehru family hasmade significant contributions in transforming India from apoor nation to a modern country. Their sacrifices for the country are unforgettable. Despite facing several crises inthe past, millions of workers of the 135-year-old Congressparty had always shown faith in the Gandhi-Nehru family."
Former Union minister Salman Khurshid said Rahul Gandhi enjoys the "full support" and "endorsement" of party leaders and workers, and it does not matter whether he wears the label of a president or not. He also suggested that the party should give consensus a chance instead of elections which create divisiveness.
"I have said very clearly that the Gandhis are leaders of the Congress. Nobody can deny this, even the opposition cannot deny this. I am quite happy having a leader, I don't worry about whether or not we have a president, we have a leader (in Rahul Gandhi) and that is comforting for me," the former Union minister told PTI in an interview. His remarks assume significance as they come just ahead of the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision making body, which is likely to deliberate on the leadership issue that is in the spotlight with Sonia Gandhi completing a year as interim chief. Also, 23 Congress leaders, including some ex-ministers have written to party president Sonia Gandhi for the overhaul of the organisational structure.
Asked about the section of party leaders calling for elections to the CWC and presidency, Khurshid hit out at those asking for internal polls, saying why are people so anxious to make these demands in the Congress when they are not made in any other party. "I am very surprised. I have not heard a single demand being made in the Communist party or in the regional parties or in the BJP. I have not heard about demand for elections in any of those parties," Khurshid said.
"Elections are important, but the historical context in which elections have to be held, circumstances, have to be taken into account. Consensus has been an important part of the political process in the Congress," he said. Giving up consensus and opting for elections, without reflecting upon the implications and consequences might be running into "unknown, unchartered territory", he said.
Khurshid also said that such issues should be discussed within the party and not outside it. His comments come days after Shashi Tharoor had said that he has been advocating elections to the CWC and for the post of the president as it would certainly have a number of beneficial outcomes for the party. Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit had also said recently that it is "high time" that the Congress appoints a full-time president by "selection or election".
Asked if consensus was the way forward instead of internal polls, Khurshid said, "My instinct says this. My understanding of the Congress says that consensus is extremely important." "People react to that by saying that you are being anti-democratic. I don't know if consensus is in some way an undemocratic thing to happen. It should be a genuine consensus. Of course it should not be a forced consensus. I think we should give consensus a chance," he said. On whether polls can lead to divisiveness in the party, Khurshid said elections do divide.
Elections, in the right spirit, should not divide, but the ground reality is that elections do divide, he said. "So, let us just hope we gradually mature to a stage where elections will not divide," he said.
Asked if Rahul Gandhi should come back as party chief, Khurshid said it was up to him to make his decision and leaders should allow him to take a call. "When you give someone your allegiance as a leader then you have to listen to the leader and whatever the leader wants to do. There is a view in a large number of people that he should not stay away from presidentship of the party," he said.
Noting that Gandhi has his own reasons to keep himself away from the presidentship, Khurshid said party leaders should respect his decision and not in any way create a situation that becomes difficult for him. "Let us wait for him to take a call, I think he understands what people's expectations and hopes are and I think he will respond to those hopes," he said.
Asked about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's remarks carried in a book endorsing Rahul Gandhi's views that the party should have a non-Gandhi president and whether that person would be under pressure of the Gandhis, Khurshid said where is the question of pressure as there "may be a president who is a non-Gandhi, but there will also be a leader who is a Gandhi". "Even the president will have to accept 'the leader' Gandhi. You cannot choose a leader who is already chosen. People have given full support and have given their endorsement to Mr Rahul Gandhi and that will remain a fact," he said.
"Whether he (Rahul) wears the label of a president or he doesn't wear the label of a president, he remains a leader," Khurshid said. If Rahul Gandhi is a leader, surely, he should also be respected for his views on what the presidential structure or what the organisational structure should be in the future, he said.
Khurshid said if Rahul Gandhi is the leader and he gives respect to a president, everybody will give respect to the president, he said. The party should not be breast-beating about the leadership issue and it will get resolved, Khurshid said.
Assam Congress president Ripun Bora has also written to Sonia Gandhi requesting her to give the responsibility of heading the party to Rahul Gandhi "so that he can lead the party and fight the BJP and RSS from the front".
Senior party leader Rajiv Shukla said he believed Sonia Gandhi should continue as Congress president. "I am of the strong view that Sonia ji should continue as congress president. Those who want to air their voices can always do it within the party forum. She is capable of giving the strong leadership at this crucial time @INCIndia," Shukla said on Twitter.
(With inputs from PTI)
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