Rahul Gandhi resigned as president of Congress last year because of the party’s defeat in national elections.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are likely to be present at tomorrow’s meeting of Congress President Sonia Gandhi with a group of 23 “rebels,” sources say.
The meeting of the Gandhis with the rebels, who wrote a letter signaling a change in leadership and calling for radical organizational changes, is said to be a major step towards reconciliation after months of infighting and internal attacks.
But Congress says it is not just a meeting with the rebels; Others who were not signatories to the letter will also be present.
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath played a major role in getting Sonia Gandhi to agree to the meeting, sources say. Kamal Nath has supported the cause of so-called dissident leaders, who had expressed concern about the party’s downfall and called for “active and present leadership” in a letter in August. It was an impressive act of defiance on the part of a group that included the main defenders and spokesmen of the party.
Kamal Nath, who lost power in Madhya Pradesh in March following the defection of main leader Jyotiraditya Scindia to the BJP, had so far kept a distance from dissidents.
Signs of a thaw have emerged as Congress seeks to elect a new chief in the New Year. Sonia Gandhi, 74, has been the party’s interim president since her son Rahul Gandhi resigned last year for the second consecutive defeat in the national congressional elections.
Since then, the party has lost two key states, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, and has barely held on to Rajasthan, where the rebel Sachin Pilot appeared after meeting with the Gandhis.
Recently, Rajasthan’s chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, hinted that the threat of the BJP trying to overthrow his government with the help of rebels in Congress had not disappeared. Mr. Gehlot may also be present at the meeting.
A rebellion threatened to break out again last month after congressional poor performance in the Bihar elections. Kapil Sibal, one of the letter writers, issued a strong blow to the leaders, saying that “the time for introspection is over.” After him, other party leaders like P Chidambaram also called for a “comprehensive review” and suggested that the party needed to strengthen its core.
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