Sunil Jakhar fumes amid Sonia Gandhi-G23 talks; 'Indulging dissenters discourages cadre'

As the talks between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and G23 leaders continued on Tuesday, former Lok Sabha MP Sunil Jakhar expressed his displeasure. Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, the ex-Punjab Congress president opined, "Indulging the dissenters 'too much' will not only undermine the authority but also encourage more dissent while discouraging the cadre at the same time". Incidentally, Jakhar himself has been a dissenter during the Punjab election campaign, casting aspersions on the selection of Charanjit Singh Channi as the Punjab CM after Amarinder Singh's resignation. 

Sonia Gandhi seeks to placate dissident leaders

The rift in Congress came to the fore once again after the party's massive defeat in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. Speaking exclusively to Indian Express on March 15, key G23 leader Kapil Sibal opined that the Gandhis should step aside from their leadership roles. Alleging that the party leadership is living in "cuckoo land", he made his preference clear for a 'Ghar ki Congress' over 'Sab ki Congress'. On this occasion, he also questioned the rationale behind formally elevating Rahul Gandhi as the Congress chief, citing that he is the de-facto president already. 

In a show of strength on March 17, 18 leaders participated in the G23 meeting at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence in Delhi. In a statement released after the meeting, G23 called upon the party to adopt a "collective leadership" while refraining from explicitly criticising Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Subsequently, several G23 leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari have called on the Congress president.

As per sources, G23 leaders might find a place in the CWC or a new body like the Parliamentary Board which will take policy decisions such as finalising CM candidates and alliances with like-minded parties. As G23 has reportedly sought the ouster of Congress general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal, chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala and general secretary Ajay Maken, some of these leaders might be shifted to other posts to placate the dissident group. However, Sonia Gandhi made it clear that major changes can take place only after the election of the new party president in August-September later this year.