Will Sonia quit, repeating 1999 history: All eyes on Monday’s CWC meeting

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 23

All eyes are on the crucial Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday to see whether 1999 history will repeat itself, and whether Sonia Gandhi, facing questions about her leadership, will once again resign.

The camp close to Sonia threw ample hints today that the Congress chief may offer to quit tomorrow after a section of senior leaders, all long trusted but Sonia, wrote a letter demanding a full time visible chief and a collective leadership with Gandhis integral to the arrangement.

“Sonia Gandhi is not visible and obviously not a full time chief. She’s ill and the fact that the letter by some 20 leaders demanding change in party organisation and leadership was written when she was in the hospital, speaks volumes about those writing it. They’ve obviously questioned her style of working. She may offer to resign tomorrow and may say the party can look for a new president as only accepted the post in the interim. She has never hankered after posts,” a senior Congress man today said although AICC officially through media chief Randeep Surjewala denied having seen any dissenting letter or reports that Sonia had quit.

The letter seeking leadership change has come from former ministers like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, M Veerappa Moily Mukul Wasnik, Manish Tewari, and former CM BS Hooda among others like former Punjab CM Rajinder Bhattal and ex-Himachal Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur among others.

Meanwhile, efforts were on today to scuttle any move by Sonia Gandhi to resign tomorrow with sitting CMs Amarinder Singh and Bhupesh Baghel rubbishing calls challenging the Gandhis.

Both CMs said Gandhis alone could keep the party together and fight the BJP with Amarinder Singh demanding that Sonia should continue till Rahul Gandhi takes over and Baghel batting for Rahul’s return as party president.

Amarinder opposed the challenge to Gandhis and spoke against attempts to “divide the party.”

Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja also firmly backed Sonia Gandhi saying this was the time for Congress to close ranks against BJP and not to show cracks in the house.

Former Minister Ashwani Kumar, too, rejected calls for elections saying consensus was needed at this time.

“This is not the time for an electoral exercise which is potentially divisive. Issues required to be addressed can be addressed under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi who has held the party together through difficult times. Only a year ago, party persons literally begged Sonia Gandhi to lead and she agreed as a call of duty. It is wrong to question her unifying leadership at this stage. Under the present extraordinary circumstances political adventurism cannot be the way forward,” said Kumar.

Young leaders like MP Manickam Tagore and AICC secretary Challa Reddy also batted openly for Rahul saying any delay in promoting Rahul would be at the cost of the Congress.

With daggers drawn on the issue of Gandhi versus non-Gandhi leadership Sonia may well repeat the 1999 history.

On May 17, 1999 Sonia Gandhi had famously walked into a CWC meeting and tendered her resignation after three CWC members — Sharad Pawar, PA Sangma (nominated for CWC by Sonia) and Tariq Anwar made a statement that the President, Prime Minister, or Vice President of India shouldn’t be a person of foreign origin.

The statement was seen as a question on Sonia’s foreign origins and attempts to prevent her from becoming the Congress PM candidate in the 1999 Lok Sabha election.

“You are all well aware of the background of this meeting. I also received the same letter. The letter deals with matters directly concerning myself. I feel I should recuse myself and perhaps Pranab Mukherjee could continue the meeting,” Sonia Gandhi said on May 17, 1999 tendering her resignation which she withdrew few days later following CWC’s unanimous rejection of the same.

Sonia Gandhi stayed in the Congress and Pawar, Sangma and Anwar quit forming the NCP.

The question is what the current Congress dissenters will do should Sonia again resign tomorrow and the CWC again rejects her resignation.

Will the dissenters follow in Sharad Pawar’s footsteps to break away from the Congress? All eyes.