NEW DELHI: In what appears to be a moment of reckoning for the Congress, Sonia Gandhi has conveyed to the party that she is not ready to continue as ‘interim president’ any longer. The declaration is likely to push the Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday into brainstorming over the leadership crisis.
Sonia’s move comes in the wake of a strong letter of dissent from a group of prominent Congress members, cutting across the generational divide. The letter- which complains about the drift in the party and its continued dwindling influence, and demands “collective decision-making” for its revival-marks the first instance of serious organised resistance since Sharad Pawar walked out over Sonia’s ‘foreign origin’ in 1999.
It is learned that Sonia conveyed her unwillingness to continue through a letter for CWC members, and party general secretary in charge of organisation KC Venugopal is likely to read it out at the CWC meeting. She has been giving regular indications to this effect since close to August 10, when she completed one year as interim president, a post she assumed after Rahul Gandhi quit following the Lok Sabha debacle in May 2019.
The CWC meeting may see a strong request for Sonia to continue or for Rahul to take charge. But the two are unlikely to heed the request. Apart from her disinclination, Sonia’s health has emerged as an additional complication. Rahul, who has been unresponsive to the demand from loyalists to return as party chief, is unlikely to reverse his stance immediately.
There is a possibility that Sonia may agree to continue for a while if the period is used to find a full-time leader. Some are talking about proposing four vice-presidents to aid her or of nominating another interim president till Rahul Gandhi agrees to step in or a full-time replacement can be found, but these appear unlikely. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra taking over remains a wish for many party leaders.

Last week, a controversy had erupted when suspended Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha spoke of the letter and the party denied its existence.
Congress had appeared to be in the throes of an angst-fuelled churn after the second Lok Sabha poll rout. However, the stinging note of dissent by a diverse group of party functionaries – ranging from veterans and known family loyalists to not-so-senior ones – seems to have triggered turmoil. The letter is seen as criticism of the functioning of Rahul who, with his decisions and comments, has appeared to set the party’s agenda on major issues even as he refuses to reclaim the president’s post. The signatories point to a leadership void and seem particularly irked by what they see as Rahul’s reluctance to engage beyond a small circle of confidants. They held discussions on Sunday and will be doing so again after the CWC meeting ends on Monday.
The letter is learnt to have warned that leadership drift has decimated the opposition camp when the country needs a strong anti-BJP platform to hold the government to account on economic and security crises facing the country. The letter was signed by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior members like Anand Sharma, Veerappa Moily, Kapil Sibal, Prithviraj Chavan, Mukul Wasnik, Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari besides younger leaders who were seen as close to Rahul like Milind Deora and Jitin Prasada. Several state and district leaders also signed the letter, taking the number to 300.
“We must not forget that in spite of the canard against Sonia Gandhi, she led Congress to victory in 2004 and made Vajpayee sit at home. Any suggestion or insinuation that Sonia Gandhi’s leadership is in question is absurd. I appeal to Sonia Gandhi to give strength to the party by continuing as president and lead the Congress,” said former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath.
With the letter’s contents going public, there was a volley of counter statements against the signatories from the CMs of Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry, former ministers Salman Khurshid and Ashwini Kumar and leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Aggrieved over the drift, the letter is learnt to have sought decentralised functioning and collective decision-making. Besides, the signatories have also called for polls to the apex decision-making body, CWC, and revival of the parliamentary board.
With matters coming to a head, Monday’s CWC meeting will be keenly watched as previous meetings saw a strong pushback from members seen as Rahul loyalists. The role of party veterans like former PM Manmohan Singh and former defence minister A K Antony will be seen as crucial if the letter and Sonia’s resignation as interim president are discussed.
One of the signatories said the issue was not just about Rahul deciding to be party chief or not, but the need for a consultative mechanism to steer the party through the crisis in the face of the challenge by Modi-led BJP.
The pitch for an elected CWC and also for the appointment of a full-time party president, even if it were a non-Gandhi, predates the dramatic eruption of dissidence. With the CWC having all three Gandhis – Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka – their interventions will be important.
The dissenting camp is concerned over the possibility of a ‘loyal’ party chief being installed and is demanding collaborative or collective leadership. Their concerns seemed to have reached breaking point due to a lack of response to the efforts of seniors like Azad and Sharma to meet Sonia in the past few weeks.