3 key dissenters ‘positive’ after Sonia’s statement

NEWDELHI: Three key signatories of a controversial letter asking for structural changes in the Congress appeared to strike a conciliatory note on Monday, welcoming a statement by interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi about bridging internal differences, and her decision to remain at the helm until the next party president is appointed.

Senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Mukul Wasnik and Manish Tewari -- all among 23 leaders who signed the letter addressed to Sonia Gandhi -- met at the residence of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, late on Monday evening after an acrimonious seven-hour-long Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting.

Sibal told HT that he wanted to be briefed on the meeting, which only four of the 23 leaders -- including Wasnik and Azad -attended by virtue of being CWC members.

”Mrs Gandhi made a very good statement. It is a very, very thoughtful gesture on her part, “Sibal said, referring Sonia Gandhi’s statement at the CWC meeting that the letter should be treated as a part of the past.

“We are a large family, we have differences on many occasions but in the end, we come together as one. The need of the hour is to fight for the cause of the people and forces that are failing this country,” Sonia Gandhi said, according to party’s chief spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Azad also reacted positively. “The outcome is very good’’ said Azad, ”She has decided to stay on till an AICC session is called to choose the next Congress President.’’

”We are heading in the right direction,’’ said Congress MP Vivek Tankha, who had also signed the letter.

But a fourth Congress leader, who asked to not be named, disagreed. “This letter is not the end, it’s the beginning- at the CWC, you are trying to shoot the messenger. But we are only there to raise issues,” he said, referring to the criticism directed at the letter’s signatories during the

CWC meeting.

For now, said one person aware of developments, the 23 leaders have decided to adopt a “wait and watch’’ approach.

The leaders who signed the letter -- who want elections at all levels of the Congress organisation and consultations on key issues -- are waiting to see if their suggestions are taken on board, said the person quoted above. Rahul Gandhi has suggested a mechanism to help the Congress president which may include appointing members to a parliamentary board to advise the president, or picking vice-presidents.

THE LEADERS WHO SIGNED THE LETTER — WHO WANT ELECTIONS AT ALL LEVELS OF THE CONGRESS ORGANISATION AND CONSULTATIONS ON KEY ISSUES — ARE WAITING TO SEE IF THEIR SUGGESTIONS ARE TAKEN ON BOARD

THREE LETTERS?

Although only one letter asking for an overhaul in party processes -- which HT hasn’t seen, and which has only partially been reported by the media -triggered an internal tussle in the Congress, HT has learnt that the signatories of the first letter may have written at least two more. The first letter -- it may have up to 100 signatories but only 23 of whom are known, according to a second person aware of developments-- was sent to Sonia Gandhi on August 9, and then a second was sent to her on August 17 as a reminder.

This person quoted above said that a third letter was written to an external party, and it raised “legal issues” with the functioning of the Congress and its adherence to its own internal rules and guidelines. Sibal refused to comment on this issue.

The repeated letters was one of the key reasons that Sonia Gandhi was upset with the signatories, said the second person quoted above.

“I have no grudge against those who have written about problems but I am pained by it appearing in the media,” Sonia Gandhi said at the meeting

To which Azad, the first of the letter writers to speak at the meeting, said, “Leaks are a problem with politicians. Whether it is Indira’s [former PM Indira Gandhi] cabinet, [former PM] Narasimha Raos or UPA’s [United Progressive Alliance], cabinet notes have routinely been leaked.’’

He went on to add, “There are four of us here at the meeting and despite Vengugopal ji (the general secretary organisation) instructing all to leave their phones, everyone outside knows what we have said here.”

Former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha, who first hinted at a letter written by dissenters last week, suggested that internal decisions of the party can face a legal challenge.

”The INC Constitution is clear under Sec 18 (H) that all decisions taken by the CWC must happen under a freshly elected AICC or else it will be unconstitutional and illegal. If any violation occurs they can be challenged. They will be challenged,’’ Jha tweeted on Monday morning.

According to the Congress party’s constitution, section 18 H says, “In the event of any emergency by reason of any cause such as the death or resignation of the President elected as above, the senior most - General Secretary will discharge the routine functions of the President until the Working Committee appoints a provisional President pending the election of a regular President by the AICC.’’

A Congress MP, who is also a signatory in the letter, said that according to these provisions of the Congress, the CWC’s decisions were now without legal validity.

But a senior leader of the Congress dismissed this stand and asked why four signatories of the letter were participating in the CWC meeting if there were doubts about its legal veracity.

“Since last year, there have been four CWC meetings. Why didn't they point this out in there?’’he asked, speaking on condition of anonymity.