Aditi tandon
Tribune news service
New Delhi, November 20
Congress Speaker Sonia Gandhi, who left Delhi for a few days for medical advice on Friday, set up three committees, each made up of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and some letter-writers that exclude Kapil Sibal.
Gandhi, who left Delhi with his son Rahul Gandhi, passed the economic affairs, foreign affairs and national security committees to discuss related matters and formulate the party’s position on political affairs, the most recent being that India stayed away from the Regional Integral Economic Association.
The committees have four leaders who recently wrote a letter to Sonia demanding organizational reform. These are Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Veerappa Moily.
The four leaders, after noting their concerns in the controversial letter, refrained from making critical comments about the leadership.
Veteran Kapil Sibal, the only letter writer to once again criticize Congress for its inertia in the face of poll losses, has not found a place on any panel.
Anand Sharma and Tharoor have been appointed to the foreign affairs committee. Sharma had recently contradicted the congressional position on India’s position on RCEP and argued that India should have joined the trade bloc. This was against the previous party line that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi articulated last year when he made repeated public statements against India’s accession to the RCEP.
Ghulam Nabi Azad and Moily have been appointed members of the national security committee.
Each of the three panels consists of five leaders, including a coordinator.
The panel on economic affairs features Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, Mallikarjun Kharge, Digvijay Singh and Jairam Ramesh (coordinator).
The foreign affairs committee is made up of Manmohan Singh, Anand Sharma, Tharoor, Saptagiri Ulaka and Salman Khurshid (coordinator).
The third panel on national security has Singh, Azad, Moily, V Vaithilingam and Vincent Pala (coordinator).
Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi left Delhi today with her son Rahul Gandhi amid calls for a review of the party’s Bihar electoral defeat.
Congressional sources said doctors had advised her to stay away from Delhi to avoid contamination.
Gandhi will stay in Goa or Chennai, sources said.
