At the heart of the latest turmoil within the Congress is the same 'old versus the new'. The story began after a meeting of Rajya Sabha MPs with Sonia Gandhi. A young Rajiv Satav, who is believed to be close to Rahul Gandhi, attacked the seniors saying the UPA ministers had led to collapse of the party and brought electoral losses. At the meeting, the insinuation was also made and supported by many younger ones close to junior Gandhi, like his sister Priyanka Vadra. The hint was that seniors had not supported Rahul enough during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Rajiv Satav was forced to issue a clarification, but hell had broken loose. Kapil Sibal and many seniors objected and took dig at Satav and the group of young leaders.
This is where the problem and strategy by some among the seniors began.
Four seniors, including Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Hooda and Kapil Sibal, were upset and wanted a change in the party. What bothered them more was the fact that the young were running them down and ready to ease them out. Hence, in a letter to Sonia Gandhi, several Congress leaders wrote that there was a need for a decisive leader and someone who was on the ground 24x7. The leaders moaned the fact that state units were weak, no elections were being held and the organsiation was incapable of fighting the BJP.
The mastermind behind the letter then got in touch with many others and sources say the number is about 303, which also includes party workers and state leaders and some former chief ministers as well. When News18.com got in touch with Veerapaa Moily, who too was one of the signatories to the letter, said, "It's an internal matter of the party and I wouldn't want to raise it outside."
The strong reactions which the news of the letter has evoked shows a pattern. Most seniors like Ashok Gehlot, Capt Amarinder Singh an Rajiv Shukla said that leaking the letter was wrong and Sonia cannot be replaced at this point of time. Top sources in the party asked: "why was the letter written when Mrs Gandhi was in hospital? Why has it been leaked out? Why at this time during CWC?"
The younger ones are largely silent preferring to watch the situation. One cannot deny the fact that they have of late been emboldened and encouraged by Rahul Gandhi's team. But it's very clear that the seniors won't let go of the situation soon.
The Congress Working Committee was being called to also discuss organisation elections and with this letter being leaked and the outrage it has generated and with seniors issuing one statement after another, there seems to be a strategy to it.
"This is all pre-planned," said a source. This is once again the seniors who felt that they could be eased out, and hence have made this an issue of Sonia's leadership being questioned. This narrative would ensure that things remain status quo. And the elders continue to rule the roost. But then the younger ones and team Rahul are not willing to wait for their time anymore. They want the change to come now. All eyes are now on Monday's CWC.
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