CWC sends message of duty and discipline during condolence meet for Patel and Gogoi

By Siddharth Sharma
New Delhi [India], November 27 : Paying obeisance to veteran party leaders Ahmed Patel and Tarun Gogoi, who died last week in a span of two days, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) passed two resolutions on Friday, reminding the Congressmen of their "sense of duty towards the party and discipline".
The virtual meeting of the CWC, chaired by Interim President Sonia Gandhi, remembered their contribution towards building the party over the years.
The resolution adopted for Patel stated, "The CWC will go forward with a sense of duty towards the party and discipline. That is the only way that Shri Patel, or Ahmed Bhai, would have wanted us to conduct our affairs."
The resolution of the CWC can be seen in the light of the current situation in the Congress where many senior leaders have expressed their dissent publicly over the party's performance and functioning.
On August 23, senior leaders of the Congress had written to Gandhi, demanding organisational elections from block level to the CWC.
"Ahmed Bhai had no personal ambition. The interest of the Congress was his only interest and the advancement of the Congress' agenda was his only agenda. He was deeply religious but secular to the core. Ahmed Bhai's simplicity, austerity, accessibility, and generosity were legendary," the resolution stated further.
According to the party sources, Gandhi said that the demise of Patel is an irreplaceable loss.
Party leader Rahul Gandhi said that Patel was always there with solutions to the problems faced by the party.
"I met the families of both the leaders and assured that the Congress party is there with them as a family. We also pray for the speedy recovery of A K Antony
who is ill and undergoing treatment," he added.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said she always used to consult Patel for every important and crucial issue she was dealing with.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh too addressed the CWC and remembered Patel and Gogoi. He moved a resolution, remembering Gogoi's contribution to the Congress and the state of Assam.
A popular leader with a grounded style of governance, Gogoi passed away on November 23 in a Guwahati hospital battling post-COVID complications.
Gogoi made his way up in the Congress party from the grassroots, holding several organisational posts and getting elected six times to the Lok Sabha before becoming the Chief Minister in 2001. He led the party to a record three consecutive electoral victories in Assam, completing 15 years as chief minister in 2016.
Two days later, Patel breathed his last in the wee hours of November 25 at a Gurugram hospital, fighting COVID-19 and related complications for over a month.