Last week, Congress President Sonia Gandhi sent a frisson of hope through the party when she wrote a letter assuring candidates who lost in the Lok Sabha polls that she would help the organisation regain lost ground.
But now, intense infighting in Maharashtra, where Assembly elections are due later this year, and the high command’s inability to put its own house in order has caused those expectations to evaporate.
“The words of comfort in Sonia’s letter do not mean much,” said a senior Congress leader from Maharashtra who has spent the past few days in Delhi, hoping for a complete overhaul in the party’s state leadership. “Decision-making remains as lacklustre as it was when we were in government. Nothing has changed. The party seems to have learnt no lessons from the loss.”
In her letter, Gandhi had admitted that reviving the party would be a “serious challenge”, but added, "I am confident you can overcome the hostile conditions with your determination and hard work. I am always there with you in this struggle. I shall be in regular contact with all of you.”
She also emphasised the “necessity of hard work to win back the trust of the people”. Being in Parliament, she said, was not the sole purpose of being in politics. “I know you fought hard in the election but couldn’t win," she wrote. "But you have to prepare for the future role. We need to do some solid work. This requires hard work and dedication.”
Sonia’s letter was received well in the party initially. The rank and file of the party is facing up to the unprecedented crisis, and the letter from the matriarch was seen as a timely intervention. In states with upcoming Assembly elections – Maharashtra, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir – the letter raised expectations that the central Congress leadership would be more responsive to sentiment on the ground.
But since then, the high command’s failure to take any measures to resolve the leadership crisis in Maharashtra, which has a Congress government, has left many local leaders extremely frustrated. Many of them believe that the large state is slipping from the grasp of the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance.
In the recent general elections, the Congress performed disastrously in Maharashtra, winning just two out of 48 Lok Sabha seats. Even before the results were announced, Congress MLAs in the state were restive, and made several attempts to convince the central leadership of the necessity of immediate intervention. After the electoral debacle, an open rebellion has broken out in the Congress legislature party against the local leadership.
Insiders say it is essential for the party’s prospects in Maharashtra that chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manikrao Thakre be replaced immediately. Maharashtra industries minister Narayan Rane recently submitted a two-page letter to Sonia Gandhi, asking for the removal of the chief minister.
A Congress official told Scroll.in that Agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Water Conservation minister Nitin Raut, Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat and state Parliamentary Affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil are also in favour of a change of guard.
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But now, intense infighting in Maharashtra, where Assembly elections are due later this year, and the high command’s inability to put its own house in order has caused those expectations to evaporate.
“The words of comfort in Sonia’s letter do not mean much,” said a senior Congress leader from Maharashtra who has spent the past few days in Delhi, hoping for a complete overhaul in the party’s state leadership. “Decision-making remains as lacklustre as it was when we were in government. Nothing has changed. The party seems to have learnt no lessons from the loss.”
In her letter, Gandhi had admitted that reviving the party would be a “serious challenge”, but added, "I am confident you can overcome the hostile conditions with your determination and hard work. I am always there with you in this struggle. I shall be in regular contact with all of you.”
She also emphasised the “necessity of hard work to win back the trust of the people”. Being in Parliament, she said, was not the sole purpose of being in politics. “I know you fought hard in the election but couldn’t win," she wrote. "But you have to prepare for the future role. We need to do some solid work. This requires hard work and dedication.”
Sonia’s letter was received well in the party initially. The rank and file of the party is facing up to the unprecedented crisis, and the letter from the matriarch was seen as a timely intervention. In states with upcoming Assembly elections – Maharashtra, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir – the letter raised expectations that the central Congress leadership would be more responsive to sentiment on the ground.
But since then, the high command’s failure to take any measures to resolve the leadership crisis in Maharashtra, which has a Congress government, has left many local leaders extremely frustrated. Many of them believe that the large state is slipping from the grasp of the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance.
In the recent general elections, the Congress performed disastrously in Maharashtra, winning just two out of 48 Lok Sabha seats. Even before the results were announced, Congress MLAs in the state were restive, and made several attempts to convince the central leadership of the necessity of immediate intervention. After the electoral debacle, an open rebellion has broken out in the Congress legislature party against the local leadership.
Insiders say it is essential for the party’s prospects in Maharashtra that chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manikrao Thakre be replaced immediately. Maharashtra industries minister Narayan Rane recently submitted a two-page letter to Sonia Gandhi, asking for the removal of the chief minister.
A Congress official told Scroll.in that Agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Water Conservation minister Nitin Raut, Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat and state Parliamentary Affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil are also in favour of a change of guard.