NEW DELHI: Before a crucial meeting of Sonia Gandhi With a section of senior leaders who had written to him in August to demand a review of the organization, Congress on Friday downplayed the internal dissent, saying Rahul gandhi he was the “right person” to lead the party.
The spokesman for the president of Congress, Randeep Surjewala, said that the party remained united and united as a family and that there are no pending dissensions after the announcement of the elections for the position of head of the party.
The claim comes ahead of Saturday’s meeting between Sonia Gandhi and many of the 23 leaders who wrote to her in August. They had also demanded active leadership and argued that Gandhis it will always be a “guiding force”.
Sources said that among those scheduled to meet with Gandhi are Rajya Sabha opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, upper house deputy party leader Anand Sharma, former chief ministers Bhupinder Hooda and Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari , Vivek Tankha and Shashi tharoor.
Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath and senior leader P Chidambaram will also be part of the meeting, the sources added.
Rahul Gandhi will also attend the meeting, sources confirmed.
Even when the party played down internal friction, the “letter writers” argue that the issues they raised are still relevant and “far from over.”
Azad had recently criticized the “five-star culture” in the party and said elections must be held at all organizational levels starting from the bloc.
Surjewala, however, said that all questions raised by the “letter writers” were resolved after Sonia Gandhi announced elections for the Congress President.
“This is not a meeting of any special group of leaders. It is not a meeting of dissidents or rebels. Because we consider each leader and each worker as part of the family,” he said while trying to downplay the meeting.
“Workers in Congress and the electoral college, including the party’s AICC members, will elect the most suitable person for the position.
“It is my belief and the belief of the overwhelming majority of 99.9 percent of the leaders and workers that Rahul Gandhi is the right person to lead the party and take on the Modi government,” Surjewala said.
He said that Rahul Gandhi is perhaps that “rare breed” of leaders who has fearlessly questioned the anti-popular policies of the Modi government and has won the affection not only of congressional workers but also of ordinary Indians.
“We believe that Rahul Gandhi should lead the party from the front,” he said.
When asked about Saturday’s meeting, he said that the president of Congress was unable to meet with people on many topics for a considerable period of time due to the Covid protocol.
Starting on Saturday and for a period of the next fortnight, Sonia Gandhi will meet and decide on various organizational issues in addition to those such as the unsuccessful winter session of Parliament, the agitation of farmers and the ending of alliances in key states, said.
Surjewala said that in addressing the issues raised by some of the top leaders, Sonia Gandhi has already decided to hold elections for the post of president of Congress and that the process is currently underway.
“All matters are resolved with the announcement of the election of the next president of Congress, so there are no internal matters of dissent of any nature that are pending in the party.
“The BJP continues to sometimes spread such insinuations that our leaders do not believe, including those who had written letters. We are a family. We will stick together and work together,” he said.
The president of Congress will be chosen by the party’s electoral college, he said.
On video: Congress will soon elect its new boss, 99.9% of workers want Rahul Gandhi as party chairman
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