'Give strength to Congress': Kamal Nath appeals to Sonia Gandhi to continue as party chief

Several Congress leaders on Sunday backed the Gandhi family amidst growing unrest with the party deeply divided on the leadership issue on the eve of the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. One of the leaders among these is former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath who appealed party president Sonia Gandhi to 'give strength to the Congress Party' by continuing as President and lead the party.

'Give strength to the Congress'

In a series of tweets, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Nath made an appeal to Gandhi, a day before the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting is scheduled to be held on Monday. "Any suggestion or insinuation that Mrs Sonia Gandhi's leadership is in question is absurd. I appeal to Mrs Sonia Gandhi to give strength to the Congress Party by continuing as President and lead the Congress," Nath said.

The Congress general secretary further said that he had worked with Gandhi family members and Sonia Gandhi led the Congress Party to victory in 2004 general elections.

Other leaders including Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Karnataka unit chief DK Shivakumar have requested Sonia Gandhi to continue as party president. This came after 23 party leaders wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking revamp of major bodies. Earlier, sources said that she might offer to step down in the CWC and ask the party to look for a full-time president. AICC media chief Randeep Surjewala, however, denied it.

There has been a debate in the Congress on the issue of leadership with a section of the party pitching for return of Rahul Gandhi as party president.

READ | 'Congress is only safe in Sonia Gandhi or Rahul's hands': Adhir Chowdhury slams dissenters

Congress' string of resignations

Since the resignation of  Rahul Gandhi as party chief post-2019 Lok Sabha debacle, several Congress members have resigned from their posts. Rahul Gandhi's resignation triggered over 200 Congress leaders to resign from their party post 'in honour and respect of Rahul Gandhi' as stated in their resignation letters - including Milind Deora, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Jyotiraditya Scindia. 

READ | BJP's Shivraj Chouhan says 'Congress bound to sink' as Sonia Gandhi may resign as chief

While Scindia has since then jumped to BJP, toppling the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, Congress also received a scare as Sachin Pilot along with 18 MLAs split away from Gehlot's Rajasthan government - bringing it to the brink of collapse. The party has also seen too many defections across states and has also thrown out Sanjay Jha for raising the same issues the 23 leaders have.

READ | Sonia Gandhi set to resign as Congress interim-chief, tells to 'find a new chief’: sources

READ | Ex-Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah backs Gandhi family's leadership, urges 'strengthen Congress'

(With agency inputs)