In a move to fix accountability for the party’s decimation in the recently concluded Assembly elections in five States, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday sacked the Congress chiefs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu is among the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs asked to put in their papers.
The Congress’ chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala, claimed it was for the reorganisation of the PCCs.
Uttarakhand’s PCC chief Ganesh Godiyal was the first to tender his resignation.
The move not only comes just two days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) asked Ms. Gandhi to take immediate corrective steps but also before a possible meeting of the “G-23” leaders, who had earlier written to Ms. Gandhi for sweeping internal reforms and collective leadership, on Wednesday to decide their next strategy.
A key member of the group, Kapil Sibal, has already publically taken on the Gandhis by stating that while people like him wanted a “Congress for all”, some others wanted a “Congress for the family”.
Former party chief Rahul Gandhi walked away when reporters asked him for a response as he was entering Parliament House.
But several Gandhi family loyalists including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart, Bhupesh Baghel, slammed Mr Sibal.
Lok Sabha member Manickam Tagore tweeted: “Why RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] and BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] wants Nehru-Gandhi’s out of the leadership? Because without Gandhi’s [Gandhis’] leadership Congress will be become Janata party. It’s easy to kill Congress then it’s easy to destroy the idea of India. Kapil Sibal knows it but why he is speaking the language of RSS/BJP.”
Another member of the G-23 grouping, Sandeep Dikshit, said, “Those who were responsible for formulating policies in the poll-bound States should accept responsibility for the loss.”
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat was one of the Congress leaders who took responsibility. Mr. Rawat hit out at his detractors. He hinted at sabotage by colleagues, not just against him but also his daughter, while countering the charge that he had “sold” tickets to unworthy candidates. He indicated that he could look at “other options” if he alone was seen as a liability for repeatedly losing elections.
The Congress veteran, who has been blamed for the loss in Uttarakhand as well as “mishandling” Punjab as a former in-charge of that State, also defended himself. “In Punjab, Hindus are our largest support base. In the middle of the elections, who said I was not made a Chief Minister because I am a Hindu?” asked Mr. Rawat, referring to former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar.
“I pray to god that the Congress takes note of the allegations against me and expels [me] from the party. Holi is a festival where one burns down evil and Harish Rawat should also be politically buried,” Mr. Rawat added, to counter the allegation by friend-turned-foe Ranjeet Rawat (who lost the election from the Salt constituency of Almora) that tickets were sold.
As the disquiet within the Congress over the poll debacle played out in the public domain, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a closed-door review of the party’s performance in Uttar Pradesh. The review meeting came just two days after the CWC decided to hold a chintan shivir (brainstorming session) to review as well as prepare for the upcoming Assembly elections this year and next year, and the Lok Sabha election of 2024.
