Congress Interim Prez Sonia Gandhi Chairs Parliamentary strategy group meeting

Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi chaired the meeting of the party's Parliamentary Strategy Group on Sunday to discuss strategy for the second phase of the Budget session of the Parliament which will begin on March 8. Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari from the G-23 group also attended the meeting.

Rift within Congress

In a letter addressed to Sonia Gandhi on August 23, 2020, 23 senior party leaders observed that the uncertainly over the leadership and the drift in the party have weakened Congress and demoralized the workers. The letter reportedly mentioned many suggestions such as the need for a full-time leadership available at the national and state headquarters, conducting elections at all levels including the Congress Working Committee and state level, the formation of an Independent Election Authority, and institutional leadership mechanism to guide the party's revival.

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Despite the high-octane drama at the CWC meeting, it was decided that the Rae Bareli MP will continue as the interim president at least until the next AICC session is convened. But the concerns were reiterated by Congress leaders such as Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad after the loss in the Bihar Assembly election. Far from addressing concerns, the CWC in January stated that the election to the post of party president will be held only after the conclusion of the Assembly polls in Assam, Puducherry, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

The internal rift in the party widened after dissenting leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Raj Babbar, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari addressed a joint rally in Jammu on February 27. On this platform, concerns were raised about the weakening of the Congress party. Moreover, Azad faced protests from the Congress cadre for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In another sign of assertion by these leaders, Sharma publicly admonished Congress for stitching an alliance with the Indian Secular Front for the West Bengal polls. 

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