There appears to be no end to the rumblings in the Congress.
Upset with the continuing attack against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi by the old guard, the party's Young Turks who owe allegiance to the Nehru-Gandhi scion have decided to hit back.
On Thursday, four party secretaries handed over a letter signed by 14 young party leaders, to Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi in which they conveyed their concern over the adverse comments being made against Rahul Gandhi by party seniors and asked that the attack be ended.
The practice of junior party members questioning their seniors is not a normal occurrence in the Congress.
Failing to enthuse
The move by Rahul loyalists follows Dwivedi’s recent suggestion that party members should not hold active posts after a certain age. While purporting to agree with him, Congress general secretary Digivjaya Singh publicly lamented that while 44-year-old Rahul Gandhi had failed to enthuse the youth, 63-year-old Narendra Modi had succeeded in this regard.
Fed up with the constant flow of barbs, Congress general secretary Madhususan Mistry, known to be close to Rahul Gandhi, was the first to hit back at the old guard.
“All the senior leaders are members of the Congress working committee, the party’s highest decision-making body," noted a Congress secretary after the 45-minute meeting with Dwivedi. "They have a forum to air their grievances. They should use it.”
Since Dwivedi is party general secretary in charge of organisational affairs, the group asked him to convey their views to all the office bearers.
The letter made two additional points: no single individual could be held responsible for the party’s defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections and that instead of squabbling , the party should put up a united face to take on the bigger challenge of countering communal forces in the country.
”Every Congress member is responsible for the party’s poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections," said a party secretary, stating that the A.K.Antony-headed committee which looked into the reasons for the Congress rout had absolved Rahul Gandhi of blame. "It is a collective responsibility. How can you pin the blame on one person?”
Blame game
The Young Turks pointed out that instead of introspecting over the reasons for the defeat and showing the way ahead, party seniors were busy indulging in a blame game.
“We are getting no direction from the seniors on facing the challenge posed by the Bharatiya Janata Party," said another party secretary. "That is what we need today, not this infighting.”
Referring to the multiple voices in the Congress in an interaction with the media in his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi maintained that the party has always witnessed such tensions. “We will deal with it,” he added.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Upset with the continuing attack against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi by the old guard, the party's Young Turks who owe allegiance to the Nehru-Gandhi scion have decided to hit back.
On Thursday, four party secretaries handed over a letter signed by 14 young party leaders, to Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi in which they conveyed their concern over the adverse comments being made against Rahul Gandhi by party seniors and asked that the attack be ended.
The practice of junior party members questioning their seniors is not a normal occurrence in the Congress.
Failing to enthuse
The move by Rahul loyalists follows Dwivedi’s recent suggestion that party members should not hold active posts after a certain age. While purporting to agree with him, Congress general secretary Digivjaya Singh publicly lamented that while 44-year-old Rahul Gandhi had failed to enthuse the youth, 63-year-old Narendra Modi had succeeded in this regard.
Fed up with the constant flow of barbs, Congress general secretary Madhususan Mistry, known to be close to Rahul Gandhi, was the first to hit back at the old guard.
Subsequently, 14 Congress secretaries, who owe their position to Rahul Gandhi, decided to take up cudgels on behalf of the party vice-president. They fine-tuned their strategy in a series of meetings over the past two days.
The letter submitted by Congress secretaries Harish Chowdhary, Naseeb Singh, Prakash Joshi and Shakeel Ahmed Khan is learnt to have said that it would be better if senior members refrained from airing their views publicly and that they should instead place their suggestions at a party forum.
The letter submitted by Congress secretaries Harish Chowdhary, Naseeb Singh, Prakash Joshi and Shakeel Ahmed Khan is learnt to have said that it would be better if senior members refrained from airing their views publicly and that they should instead place their suggestions at a party forum.
“All the senior leaders are members of the Congress working committee, the party’s highest decision-making body," noted a Congress secretary after the 45-minute meeting with Dwivedi. "They have a forum to air their grievances. They should use it.”
Since Dwivedi is party general secretary in charge of organisational affairs, the group asked him to convey their views to all the office bearers.
The letter made two additional points: no single individual could be held responsible for the party’s defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections and that instead of squabbling , the party should put up a united face to take on the bigger challenge of countering communal forces in the country.
”Every Congress member is responsible for the party’s poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections," said a party secretary, stating that the A.K.Antony-headed committee which looked into the reasons for the Congress rout had absolved Rahul Gandhi of blame. "It is a collective responsibility. How can you pin the blame on one person?”
Blame game
The Young Turks pointed out that instead of introspecting over the reasons for the defeat and showing the way ahead, party seniors were busy indulging in a blame game.
“We are getting no direction from the seniors on facing the challenge posed by the Bharatiya Janata Party," said another party secretary. "That is what we need today, not this infighting.”
Referring to the multiple voices in the Congress in an interaction with the media in his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi maintained that the party has always witnessed such tensions. “We will deal with it,” he added.
