The Congress Working Committee (CWC) should hold leadership elections to “energise workers and inspire voters”, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said here on Thursday.
The MP endorsed the comments of party leader Sandeep Dikshit that the “leadership question” was the biggest challenge facing the party.
MP’s suggestion
“What Sandeep Dikshit said openly is what dozens of party leaders from across the country are saying privately, including many with responsible positions in the party. I renew my appeal to the CWC to hold leadership elections to energise workers and inspire voters,” Mr. Tharoor tweeted tagging a news report in which Mr. Dikshit had been critical of the leadership.
Mr. Dikshit had blamed senior leaders for inaction, saying they could not find a new party president after all these months because “they are scared who will bell the cat”.
Mr. Tharoor even suggested on the process, something that he had made soon after Rahul Gandhi had stepped down as party chief.
“Some have asked who should vote and for what. I was referring to my earlier call eight months ago for elections among the 10,000 party workers who constitute the ‘AICC plus PCC delegates’ list. These should be for the elected seats in the CWC as well as for the party presidency,” Mr. Tharoor said.
The leadership question has also been raised in the middle of speculation that Mr. Gandhi could be once again asked to take charge as the party in a few months as interim party chief Sonia Gandhi is reported to be not keen on continuing.
At the official party briefing, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he had not seen Mr. Tharoor’s tweet but added that it was the CWC that proposed Ms. Gandhi’s name.
‘Read resolution’
“If anyone has any misgiving, I would urge them to read the CWC resolution once, so that it can enlighten them before they make any statement,” he told presspersons without mentioning Mr. Tharoor’s name.
The Congress’s back-to-back rout in the Delhi polls has prompted several leaders to speak out, with younger leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Manish Tewari and others calling for a new mindset of way of functioning. Leaders like Milind Deora and Ajay Maken have also engaged in an open spat over Mr. Deora praising Aam Admi Party (AAP). Mr. Dikshit joined the debate by questioning the seniors in the party.
Mr. Surjewala asked Mr. Dikshit “to reflect why each one of them, including him [Sandeep Dikshit], have lost recent elections and work to regain their supporters on the basis of their work”.
