Congress Leadership Row: Letter strategy to counter letter politics of senior leaders

By Siddharth Sharma
New Delhi [India], Aug 24 : Amid 'letter row' in Congress party on the issue of 'leadership' and organisational system, where 23 senior leaders said to have written a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and asked about the decision on leadership.
Now the row has taken a turn where Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) units and frontal organizations have started pouring in resolutions and letters to Sonia Gandhi expressing the Gratitude towards her and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.
Leader of the Congress Party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi in which he has written about the reports of said letter from senior leaders that "at a time when the country faces a grave threat from the BJP-RSS and their governance, to raise the bogey of a "leadership crisis" at the behest of some interested parties, is only a "manufactured truth" that they would like to perpetuate to derail yours and Rahul Ji's persistent efforts to pin down the Modi government on its failed governance. This is a deliberate attempt to weaken the party."
Further, he praised both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for their leadership and said "We know you are facing difficulties. Yet, it is our humble appeal to you to continue to be our leader. The Congress party is only safe in your hands or in those of Rahul ji. No one else can, nor will, do justice."
A counter-strategy was adopted by leaders to show huge support for the Gandhis as several MPs followed Chowdhury and wrote the letter to Sonia Gandhi on the same lines without changing the full stop and coma of his letter.
Lok Sabha MPs Manickam Tagore, Jyothimani S, Dr. M Muhammed Jawed, Pradyut Bordolai, Vincent H Pala, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Dr Amar Singh, Ve Vaithilingam, Ravneet Singh, Saptagiri Ulaka, Rajya Sabha MPs Rajiv Satav and PL Punia have written the letter to Sonia Gandhi.
Speaking to ANI on the condition of anonymity, one of the MPs who wrote the letter said, "when few leaders can raise their voice through one letter, why can't elected MPs write the same letter to counter ."
According to a source in the party, it has been done under a strategy to show the strength of support to Gandhi's leadership from the elected representatives from the party, as there is a "view from a large section of the pro-Gandhi leaders in Congress that the leaders who have written the letter are not mass-based leaders and their act is not against the functioning but against the Gandhi's leadership."
Congress Working Committee (CWC) is scheduled to meet today and Organisational affairs likely to be discussed in the meet but letter row seems to have sparked internal controversy among the leaders over the leadership issue.
An internal dispute had emerged regarding "leadership" issues in the party after several senior Congress leaders reportedly have written to party interim president Sonia Gandhi raising a 5-Point Agenda to revive the party, emphasising the need for active leadership in the party and raising questions about the party's condition and direction, as well as demanding the election of the Congress Working Committee.
There has been a debate in the Congress on the issue of leadership with a section of the party pitching for return of Rahul Gandhi as party president.
Sonia Gandhi completed one year as the party's interim chief earlier this month. She took over the reins of the party for a second time after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as party chief following Congress suffering its second successive defeat in Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
Sections of the party feel that the uncertainty over the leadership issue should end soon as it will help the party take on the BJP-led government more forcefully.