'Gandhi family can lead Congress to success': Siddaramaiah writes to Sonia Gandhi

After the implosion of the Congress party in the CWC meeting which ensued in several senior leaders threatening to resign, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah urged interim-Chief Sonia Gandhi to continue as the President or ask Rahul Gandhi to take charge of the affairs.

In a letter, Siddaramaiah stated that he was convinced that the Gandhi family could lead the Congress party to success and they had been doing so since 1977 after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and subsequently the death of Rajiv Gandhi. "You (Sonia Gandhi) took the responsibility of leading the party in spite of the grief of losing your husband and also the responsibility of raising 2 young children," said Siddaramaiah in his letter adding that it was 'imperative' that the party be led only by the Gandhi family. 

Read: Congress CWC Live Updates: Ahmed Patel Proposes Rahul's Name For Congress Chief Mid-revolt

Read: Two Masterminds Of Congress Dissent Letter Not Among 23 Signatories; Claiming Neutrality

CWC meeting comes to blows

In a CWC meeting held on Monday, Sonia Gandhi offered to resign from the post of interim Congress President. About 23 leaders had together written a letter to Sonia Gandhi asking for sweeping changes in the leadership of the party. Rahul Gandhi alleged that the leaders were "colluding with BJP" against Congress, after which several leaders like Kapil Sibal and Ghulam Nabi Azad offered to resign if Rahul manages to prove his statements. 

Inside sources from the CWC meeting have revealed that Rahul Gandhi's camp has said that the details of the dissenting letter written by the 23 leaders should not have been released to the media. Two Congress leaders are said to be the masterminds of the letter, however, they are not the signatories to the letter and playing neutral, according to sources.

Sonia Gandhi completed one year as party chief earlier this month. She took over the reins of the party for a second time after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as party chief following Congress suffering its second successive defeat in Lok Sabha polls in 2019. However, there is a possibility of no consensus emerging and Rahul Gandhi might be likely to come back again as the president, only if given a free hand to choose his own team in the working committee, as per sources.

Read: 'There Are Only A Handful Trying To Save The Gandhis': BJP's Manoj Tiwari On CWC Row

Read: 'Gandhis And Vadras Only Eligible Candidates': BJP Takes Sly Dig At Congress President Row