Shiv Sena warns ally Congress after CWC mess; tells Rahul & Sonia to rein in their flock

Lashing out at its ally Congress amid its internal tussle, Shiv Sena its mouthpiece Saamana has said that India needs a viable opposition and the grand-old party's members should not revolt in Maharashtra. Saamana mentioned that 11 Congress leaders have pointed out the misdoings of the Uddhav Thackeray government and have sat on a strike. It added that the Congress leaders have yet to inform interim party chief Sonia Gandhi about the development.

READ | Rahul Gandhi should lead after Sonia steps down: Gujarat Congress

Sena said that instead of protesting against the MVA government which was formed after the consent of their central leaderships, Congress should focus on solving their internal crisis, so that country gets an Opposition it needs. Sena said that if Congress leaders in Maharashtra revolt against the MVA government, BJP will take undue advantage of the situation. It also added that though Uddhav Thackeray is capable of tackling the political chaos, the responsibility to pacify the Congress leaders lies with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.  

READ | Sonia Gandhi to continue as Congress interim-chief till fresh AICC elections are held

Monday drama in Congress

23 leaders including the likes of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Milind Deora, had written to party's interim-Chief Sonia Gandhi emphasising the need for the active revival of the party and raised questions about the party's condition and direction, demanding an internal election to the CWC even at state levels, the formation of an Independent Election Authority, and institutional leadership mechanism, full-time leadership at the helm. The five-page letter - drafted by two senior leaders, seeks to elect a 'non-Gandhi' chief as pointed out by the dissenting leaders in the CWC meeting. Apart from signatories, over 300 Congress workers support it.

READ | Chidambaram predicts brighter future for Congress, says 'discontent brings about change'

As CWC meeting began on Monday, sources reported that Sonia Gandhi offered to step down, whereas Rahul Gandhi expressed his displeasure at the dissenting letter. An all-out war broke out between Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal and the Wayanad MP after the latter said that the dissenters were 'in cahoots with the BJP', which prompted Sibal to lash out on Twitter and Azad to offer to resign. However, first Sibal and later Azad withdrew their statements after assurances from Rahul Gandhi, with Surjewala and some others attempting to deny Rahul Gandhi had ever made the allegations of collusion. Almost 8 hours after the meeting began, the concluding remarks of Rahul Gandhi at the CWC were that he was pained to see the letter as his mother was in the hospital - something he had said earlier as well.

The temporary end to the day-long drama came with Sonia Gandhi continuing to be the 'interim' chief of the grand-old party, till fresh elections are held by AICC in the next six months. A 5-point resolution waxing lyrical about Sonia and Rahul Gandhi was issued, wholly non-commensurate to the scope and size of the meeting. Question marks still remain over the divide within Congress ranks as a number of leaders who had been signatories to the letter huddled at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence after the meeting.

READ | Sonia Gandhi remains Chief: Here's a timeline of how Congress' crisis on Monday unfolded