Days after senior Congress general secretaries Janardan Dwivedi and Digvijaya Singh publicly aired their views on the party, the latter obliquely critical of Rahul Gandhi, a group of young leaders – including party secretaries, as well as current and ex-MPs — gathered at Punjab Bhawan on Tuesday evening to defend their vice-president.
“The Antony Committee has already absolved Rahulji of any role in the party’s defeat,” party sources said, adding, “so why are party seniors publicly raising the matter?”
The reference was to Mr. Singh’s statement that Mr. Gandhi’s silence on critical issues had contributed to the party’s loss in the “war of perception” in the LS polls. And while Mr. Dwivedi’s remark that politicians, once they cross a certain age, shouldn’t occupy “active” posts is in sync with the call for a generational shift, it is being seen as critical of the leadership for not having done it yet.
Tuesday’s meeting was better attended than the one held shortly after Independence Day to counter what is being described as an orchestrated campaign against Mr. Gandhi.
An AICC secretary who was present said at least 20 AICC secretaries approved of this move, stressing there was anger against senior leaders “who had enjoyed all the trappings of power for the last ten years, but failed to look after the party’s interests.”
Most of the young Congress leaders who gathered at Punjab Bhawan on Tuesday evening to defend party vice-president Rahul Gandhi against criticism by senior leaders are in their 30s and 40s, largely handpicked by Mr. Gandhi.
Officially, the Congress tried to play down the episode. “Rahulji is our leader. The party will grow under his leadership and we will come back to power,” party spokesperson Shobha Oza said answering questions at the AICC briefing on Tuesday.
Senior party functionaries — most of whom are entrenched veterans — are seen as resisting the impending generational change by being critical of Mr. Gandhi and those close to him.
Of course, there are exceptions: 69-year-old party general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, who lost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Vadodara, remains a Rahul Gandhi favourite, still overseeing the selection of party candidates. Indeed, on August 28, Mr. Mistry said that senior leaders who had access to the Congress leadership should talk to them directly, not through the media. “I am questioning them: when they have access to the leadership, why are they airing their views in public?” he asked.
Mr. Mistry’s views were echoed at Tuesday’s meeting when the young leaders gathered there said that there were party forums for such discussions.
“Senior leaders who became Ministers failed to deliver for the party … the main reason for the party’s downfall was the hubris and inaccessibility of these veterans,” an AICC secretary said, stressing, “They have no right to blame Mr. Gandhi.” At the meeting, some Ministers in the UPA government were singled out for being non-cooperative or hostile to the organisation while in power.
Those present at the Tuesday’s meeting included Prakash Joshi, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, Girish Chodankar, Harish Choudhary, Naseeb Singh, Paresh Dhanani, Suraj Hegde, Zubair Khan, Sanjay Jha, Ashok Tanwar, Maneck Tagore. Rajeev Satav, Gaurav Gogoi, Deepak Amin and Deepender Hooda.
