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HomePoliticsRahul Gandhi 'resignation drama' to overshadow Congress stock-taking meet today

Rahul Gandhi ‘resignation drama’ to overshadow Congress stock-taking meet today

The Congress’ apex body is meeting to analyse its second successive Lok Sabha rout, but senior leaders don’t expect much to come out of the meeting.

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New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee, the opposition party’s apex decision-making body, meets in New Delhi at 11 am Saturday to discuss its rout in the Lok Sabha elections.

Leaders from many states have offered to resign, taking responsibility for the debacle, but all eyes are on Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whose leadership is being questioned in hushed tones in party circles.

“There are strong rumours that Rahul Gandhi may offer to resign too,” a senior party leader told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.

When the party had suffered a humiliating blow in the 2014 elections, getting reduced to 44 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi was the Congress president, but the entire show had been run by Rahul, then vice-president. After the defeat, Sonia had offered to resign at the CWC meeting, only to draw howls of protest from her loyalists, who rejected her offer outright. The CWC, instead, asked her to take steps to re-energise the party and strategise for the future.

This time, when the party has secured just eight more seats, his campaign strategy and his dependence on the non-political coterie around him are drawing mumbled criticism from leaders.

What’s more, Rahul was also at the receiving end of the biggest shock of the elections, when he lost the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi to Smriti Irani of the BJP. Since then, knives have been out against his advisers and close aides, without anyone openly questioning his leadership.


Also read: Knives out in Congress after debacle, leaders blame Rahul Gandhi’s ‘jhola wali’ team


What will be discussed?

The leader quoted above said the meeting has been called to discuss the performance of the party, what went wrong and at what level.

“The issue of the three states where we had formed the government in the assembly elections (Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) will be taken up,” the leader said.

The CWC may also take up the issue of changing its policy for the 2019 assembly elections to be held in Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

“The party leadership is likely to chalk out a plan for the changed political space and try and address the real issues,” said another leader.


Also read: How Indian voters saw Congress – a laid-back party with no leadership & agenda


What usually happens at the CWC

The CWC meeting is meant to be a platform to dive in-depth into the Congress’ performance, what went wrong, and other issues related to the party. However, more often than not in the Congress’ case, such discussions end up being a mere formality.

In 2014, for instance, after facing a crushing defeat, the party had set up a panel headed by A.K. Antony to list out the reasons for the rout. According to sources, while the panel had submitted a detailed report on what went wrong and what was required from the central leadership, it was brushed under the carpet and never made public.

Since 2014, Rahul has revamped his team and style of functioning. That year, he had introduced the system of conducting “primaries” to elect candidates, under which workers could vote to elect from among ticket aspirants, something which was criticised by the senior leaders.

This time around, there is already internal bickering over the hold Rahul’s team has over the party, and the decisions that stem from there. And yet, many in the party are not very hopeful that much will come out of the CWC exercise.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. These MAY be two ways to revive Congress under current (dynastic) leadership: (1) Rahul Gandhi maintains an absolutely professional demeanour in 2019-24 Parliament with almost 100% attendance, and uses his questioning rights to find REAL flaws with current government’s policies. In other words, maintain positive visibility; (2) uses his party’s manifesto to demonstrate how positive change can be brought in constituencies under Congress’s governance.

  2. 1. Is it not a fact that Rahul Gandhi’s win from Wayanad Lok Sabha (LS) constituency is a face-saver? That win cannot minimize damage to his reputation from fact that he was defeated in Amethi. 2. Since Rahul Gandhi has done hardly anything for the poor in Amethi LS constituency, he had sensed possible defeat in Amethi. 3. However, Wayanad win won’t be good enough to protect him from future electoral defeats. 4. Citizen-voters wish that the Congress party should abandon dynastic succession once and for all and elect a new President in a democratic way. Earlier it takes this step better it will be for its future. As it is, credibility of the Congress party, as national political party, is at its lowest. Would the senior Congress leaders listen to voice of citizen-voters and understand true lesson from people’s verdict? It is a question which only they can answer.

    • Brahmin always played spoil sport in Indian politics. They are beating their chest for someone other’s victory who first defeated RSS in their own game. Defeating sectarian ,divisive forces and hate mongors is not work of Rahul but people of India. A party which has no contribution at all in Indian polity and started from 2 mps, was a marginal force for many years should not be judgemental.

  3. You press Wallas can not stand straight, either you bend forward and touch the feet of big and powerful or bend backward to pronounce judgements on people who are already down. You want Rahul to be out permanently, good tell that as your wish, instead of using words like drama .

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