Head of Congress Sonia Gandhi leaves Delhi for her annual trip to Goa to escape pollution
New Delhi:
Days after Kapil Sibal’s comments on the decline of Congress sparked another outbreak of infighting, party chief Sonia Gandhi has included four members of the dissident camp on three committees set up to keep her informed on matters related to national security, foreign affairs and the economy.
Announced on Friday, just before Ms Gandhi leaves for Goa to escape the pollution of Delhi, the appointments are seen as a measure to avoid further public embarrassment, such as that caused by Sibal’s interview with the Indian Express or the letter from 23 leaders challenging the Gandhi family’s control.
The economic affairs committee includes former Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The second (foreign affairs) committee has both Anand Sharma and Shashi Tharoor, and Ghulam Nabi Azad and Veerappa Moily have been appointed to the third.
Mr. Chidambaram, a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, was not initially placed on the dissident side, but appears to have been transferred there after his support of Mr. Sibal. He had criticized the party’s presence on the ground in light of its performance in the Bihar elections and by-elections in other states.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a member of all three committees.
The very public breaking of ranks over perceived lack of leadership and dismal electoral results extended to questions of economic policy on Tuesday.
Anand Sharma, a former Union Trade Minister, criticized the decision to stay away from the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Association), a free trade agreement promoted by China.
Congress was the first to alert about the possible membership of India. The Narendra Modi government later dropped the deal, citing concerns about its impact on small manufacturers.
The disagreement over the RCEP came after Kapil Sibal’s interview, in which he cited the Bihar results to ask for “experienced minds … hands and those who understand political realities.” Rajasthan’s chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, and the chief leader, Salman Khurshid, responded to Sibal.
Both Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal were among the 23 congressional leaders behind the August “letter of dissent,” which sparked an all-out showdown but produced little real change.
The letter called for radical reforms, introspection and “visible full-time leadership” from a party that has had Gandhi as its “interim” chief since Rahul Gandhi resigned after last year’s Lok Sabha elections.
A heated meeting of the Congressional Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, followed in which Ms Gandhi offered to resign before being persuaded to remain as interim chief, with an AICC meeting to be convened in six months.
A committee was set up to examine complaints from dissident leaders, but Sibal, in his comments Monday, suggested that little progress had been made in resolving problems.
“Since there has been no dialogue and there does not seem to be any effort for dialogue by the leaders and since there is no forum to express my views, I am forced to express them publicly,” Sibal told the Indian Express on Monday. .
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