Ruckus in Congress's CWC meeting, Azad offers resignation after raging on Rahul's allegations

New Delhi: There was already a ruckus in the virtual meeting of the Congress Working Committee. There was a lot of debate on the letter written to Sonia Gandhi by two dozen leaders demanding leadership change and organization elections. Interim president Sonia Gandhi made it clear in the beginning that she wanted to be relieved of this responsibility, but from former PM Manmohan Singh to AK Antony, she requested him to take charge of the party. When former president Rahul Gandhi raised questions about the timing of the letter, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was involved in writing it, also offered to resign.

what happened in the CWC and whose opinion was it ...

-Sonia offered to step down, Manmohan said - stay

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi offered to step down and asked the CWC to initiate the process to elect a new president. After the CWC meeting commenced, Sonia said she wanted to step down as interim president and sent a detailed reply to the organization's general secretary KC Venugopal. A source said that after this, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and some other leaders urged him to continue in the post.

-Rahul raised questions on timing

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the leaders who wrote letters to Sonia Gandhi on the issue of leadership in the party and said that when the party was fighting the opposing forces in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and Sonia Gandhi was unwell then why such a letter at that time Was written, Rahul Gandhi criticized the leaders for making the party related issues public and said that these should be discussed in the CWC and not in the media.

-Clearance of Ghulam Nabi Azad, offer to resign

Leaders in the CWC targeted those writing letters in one voice and termed it as a weakening of the party. During this time Ghulam Nabi Azad also presented his side and told the party for what purpose he wrote this letter. Ghulam Nabi Azad also offered to resign during this period.

-Ruckus over collusion with BJP ...

During the CWC meeting, sources were quoted in the media saying that Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the leaders writing letters have met the BJP. An uproar ensued over this. Kapil Sibal, who was among those who wrote the letter, immediately retaliated on this alleged statement of Rahul via Twitter, when the news came that Ghulam Nabi Azad also offered resignation after being hurt by this same charge of Rahul. However, party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala immediately made it clear that Rahul Gandhi had not said any such thing. Sibal, while removing his tweet, said that Rahul Gandhi has personally told him that what he has been quoted as saying he has not said. Later Ghulam Nabi Azad also made it clear that Rahul Gandhi has not made such an allegation. He also said that he has no problem with Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi. He had offered to resign due to some further allegations.

-Rahul Gandhi should take responsibility

The CWC once again emphatically demanded that Rahul Gandhi be handed over the reins of the party. Former Defense Minister AK Antony said that if Sonia Gandhi does not want to continue in the post, then Rahul Gandhi should take this responsibility. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also appealed that Rahul Gandhi be made the president.

-What is said in the letter?

Two dozen Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, have written a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, demanding a major change in the organization. These leaders have called for major changes in the organization by bringing reforms like decentralization of power, empowerment of state units and formation of Central Parliamentary Board. By the way, the Central Parliamentary Board was in the Congress till the 1970s but was later abolished. This paper emphasizes decision making collectively and calls for the Gandhi family to be an 'integral part' in that process. These leaders have also called for the appointment of full-time leadership, who should be active and so that workers and leaders can communicate easily. It is believed that leaders in favor of reform have demanded free and fair elections in the party organization from the block level to the level of the working committee.

-These leaders demanded change

The leaders who signed the letter include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, Deputy Leader of Congress, former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former Minister Mukul Wasnik, Kapil Sibal, M Veerappa Moily, Shashi Tharoor, MP Manish Tiwari, former MP Milind Deora, Jitin Prasad, Sandeep Dixit. The letter also signed the former heads of party units Raj Babbar, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Kaul Singh Thakur, Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Kuldeep Sharma.

-Full confidence in Sonia and Rahul's leadership '

Those who wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi regarding the party leadership have said in the CWC meeting that they have full faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. those leaders said, 'There were some concerns for the betterment of the organization, the letter was written to reveal them. We have full faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.