‘G23’: Congress rift widens as both camps double down
NEW DELHI: The retirement of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Rajya Sabha and the party’s inability or unwillingness to find a slot for him appears to have acted as the trigger for a fresh wave of hostilities between a group of leaders who, last August, asked for sweeping changes in how the party is run, and the party’s leadership.
The leadership pushed organisational elections to after the coming assembly polls, but recent events indicate that the outcome of the polls may well determine the next course of action for the two sides who appeared to double down on Tuesday, despite avowals to the contrary, including that there is just one side.
On Tuesday, angry workers from the Congress’ youth and student wings protested against Azad, burnt his effigy and demanded his removal for his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party chose to defend its activists.
Azad and 22 others (together referred to as G23) wrote a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in August seeking changes in how the party is run in an effort to improve its ability to take on the BJP.
On Monday, senior leaders, Anand Sharma (key part of G23) and West Bengal state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sparred publicly over the state Congress’s decision to join hands with the ISF, a platform floated by cleric Abbas Siddiqui. The Congress, in this case , decided to back Chowdhury.
A party leader admitted that defeats could strengthen the G23 and they may demand important roles in the party.
AZAD AND 22 OTHERS WROTE A LETTER TO PARTY PRESIDENT SONIA GANDHI IN AUGUST SEEKING CHANGES IN HOW THE PARTY IS RUN TO IMPROVE THE PARTY’S FUNCTIONING
NEW DELHI: The retirement of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Rajya Sabha and the party’s inability or unwillingness to find a slot for him appears to have acted as the trigger for a fresh wave of hostilities between a group of leaders who, last August, asked for sweeping changes in how the party is run, and the party’s leadership.
The leadership pushed organisational elections to after the coming assembly polls, but recent events indicate that the outcome of the upcoming assembly polls may well determine the next course of action for the two sides who appeared to double down on Tuesday, despite avowals to the contrary, including that there is just one side.
On Tuesday, angry workers from the Congress’s youth and student wings protested against Azad, burnt his effigy and demanded his removal from the party for his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party chose to defend the action of its activists and senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi asked: “How can you question anyone who wants to protest what he didn’t like about Azad’s speech?”
Azad and 22 others (together referred to as G23) wrote a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in August seeking changes in how the party is run, including holding organisational elections, in an effort to improve its ability to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On Monday, two senior leaders, Anand Sharma (part of G23) and West Bengal state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sparred publicly on Twitter over the state Congress’ decision to join hands with the ISF, a platform floated by a cleric Abbas Siddiqui.
The Congress, in this case, decided to back Chowdhury. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Singhvi said: “The Congress’s demand for 92 seats in West Bengal has been fulfilled. A large front, a secular front has been created. The whole idea is to create a good, political fight against the BJP’S brand of polijune. tics. Each one of my respected and valued colleagues should join this battle.”
Chowdhury, believed to be a trusted lieutenant of Rahul Gandhi, also hit back at Sharma and said those committed to fight against the BJP should support the Congress and campaign for the party in the coming elections in four states and a Union territory rather than attempting to undermine the party by remarks in tune with the BJP’S agenda.
At least three party leaders said that while some from the G23 group such as Mukul Wasnik, Prithviraj Chavan and Veerappa Moily, have been given specific duties in the election, Azad, Sharma, Manish Tewari and Kapil Sibal—considered by the party as the key members of the grouping —are yet to be assigned any specific tasks in the poll campaign. Another signatory, Shashi Tharoor, was given the opportunity to be the first Opposition speaker in the budget debate in Parliament.
The Congress is a serious contestant in Kerala, Puducherry and Assam, and an alliance partner in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. According to the leaders cited above, it believes that a good result such as winning Kerala and Tamil Nadu could further marginalize the dissidents ahead of the organizational elections. It would, the reasoning goes, show the effectiveness of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, whom some would like to see return as the party chief.
But a defeat, the leaders admitted, could strengthen the hand of G23 and they might demand important roles in the party. Organisational elections in the party could take place in On Tuesday, Sharma reiterated his commitment to the Congress ideology. He also refused to be drawn into a scrap with Chowdhury and said he would not get personal.
“We have never thought of quitting the party, but for the Congress to revive, some of the young leaders should be kicked out,’’ said one of the signatories who asked not to be named.
Interestingly, the Congress leadership’s current strategy seems to be to marginalize leaders such as Azad and Sharma. Prithviraj Chavan’s appointment as chief of party’s screening committee in Assam — he is one of the signatories — perhaps indicates that some from the G23 could be accommodated.
Last week, eight out 23 letter writers including former J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior leaders such as Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha attended a function in Jammu where they admitted that the Congress had become weak and they were speaking out to help revive the party.
The battle between G23 and the leadership — also seen as a fight between some of the old generation and others of the new generation, mostly Rahul Gandhi’s aides — has also affected the party’s functioning in Parliament. Sharma, the deputy leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha, was overlooked for the top slot after Azad’s retirement and Mallikarjun Kharge was made the Leader of Opposition in the Upper House.
In 2019, Manish Tewari’s name was suggested by a key strategist as the possible choice for party’s floor leader in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi chose to back Chowdhury for the post. More recently, in August, after the letter caused a stir in the Congress, the party named Gaurav Gogoi as deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, once again overlooking Tewari.