The continuing uncertainty over choosing the next Congress president prompted a couple of party veterans to speak out on Tuesday - former Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi questioned the credibility of the process of short-listing the possible contenders and asked Rahul Gandhi, who has quit as party chief, to set up a formal mechanism, and former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said the process should involve the widest possible consultation without ‘intrigue and manipulation’
Only on Monday, party veteran Karan Singh said “he was aghast at the sense of disorientation that the Congress party has fallen into”.
In an informal interaction with journalists, Mr. Dwivedi lauded Mr. Gandhi's decision to step down and called it ideal. Every Congress leader should follow it, he said.
He expressed surprise that while some office-bearers had resigned, many others continued in their post.
Mr. Dwivedi, who has been an office-bearer for almost four decades and handled the party’s organisational matters, said the credibility of a panel holding informal discussions on choosing the new chief would have been more if it was formally set up. “There was a gap as Rahul ji should have set up a panel of leaders.” He maintained that Mr. Gandhi technically continued to be the party chief until the Congress Working Committee (CWC) formally accepted his resignation.
“What kind of a committee is this where A.K. Antony had not participated? If there was a formal composition, it would be more credible,” said Mr. Dwivedi, who was removed as CWC member when Mr. Gandhi took over as party chief in December 2017.
Mr. Dwivedi was off important roles after his public views such as favouring reservation on the basis of economic criterion didn’t find favour with party leaders. He, however, claimed that he had offered to resign as far back as December 2014 by writing to former party chief, Sonia Gandhi, where he had argued that younger leaders should take charge of party affairs.
“Once he [Rahul Gandhi] forms the panel, it should hold discussions with workers and leaders before arriving at the name of the next Congress president,” he said.
Mr. Ashwani Kumar said, “It does not matter whether the president is young or a veteran. What matters is the leader’s ability to catch the imagination of the people around a refreshing narrative of national renewal. For this, it is necessary to encourage a culture of meaningful debate and deliberation at all levels and to shun the politics of intrigue and manipulation,” he added.
So far, senior leader like Ghulam Nabi Azad, P. Chidambaram, Mukul Wasnik and Anand Sharma, among others, have been holding informal consultations before the CWC formally meets to decide on a new chief.
