Ghulam Nabi Azad remains part of the Congressional Working Committee
New Delhi:
Congressional veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, the most prominent of the “dissident” letter writers who have questioned the leadership of the Gandhis, has been removed as secretary general in a shakeup of party chief Sonia Gandhi.
“The party wholeheartedly appreciates the contributions of outgoing General Secretaries Ghulam Nabi Azad, Motial Vora, Ambika Soni, Mallikarjun Kharge and Luizinho Faleiro,” read a letter signed by Sonia Gandhi.
Ghulam Nabi Azad remains a part of the Congressional Working Committee, the party’s main decision-making panel. Jitin Prasada, another member of the ginger group, is a permanent guest.
Jitin Prasada has been appointed state head, but has been transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Bengal, where elections will be held next year. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the general secretary in charge of UP.
The shakeup comes a month after a group of 23 party leaders, in a surprising act of revolt, wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi calling for party reform, internal elections and “full-time visible leadership.” The letter also suggested that the Gandhi family would always be part of the collective decision-making.
In a symbolic move, another leader among the 23 letter writers, Mukul Wasnik, has been appointed general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh.
Mukul Wasnik has also been named among the six leaders who should “assist the president of Congress in organizational and operational matters, as she expressed at the CWC meeting on August 24”. The others are AK Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, KC Venugopal, and Randeep Singh Surjwala.
This special committee is the only sign of any impact from the dissident letter, which divided the party in half and left the letter-writers isolated in the party.
Randeep Singh Surjewala is among the biggest winners in the deck. He has been appointed general secretary in charge of Karnataka, is on the special committee and continues as the main spokesperson.
The letter of dissent was seen as a covert attack on the Gandhis, especially Rahul Gandhi, who resigned as president last year due to the electoral defeat of Congress. In recent months, Congress has been sharply divided with veterans lining up against what is known to be Rahul Gandhi’s core group, which is encouraging his return to top office.
Azad and other signatories to the letter were targeted as “traitors” at the August 24 meeting of the CWC, in which both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were present.
The meeting ended with Congress declaring that Sonia Gandhi would remain as Acting Head until a session of the Indian Congress Committee (AICC) in the next six months. It was also reportedly decided that the party would examine the letter writers’ complaints. The special committee announced today is meant to address that promise.
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