In a visible attempt to silence detractors calling for a change in leadership after the party’s dismal performance in the recently concluded Assembly elections in five States, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is making her presence felt by taking the centre stage.
From temporarily defusing the rebellion of G-23 leaders pushing for reforms to sacking five Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs, including Navjot Singh Sidhu in Punjab, Ms. Gandhi has been clearly asserting herself in the past 10 days. She has involved herself directly in every decision no matter how minor the issue.
“She is clearly trying to control the narrative and assert that she alone is the centre of authority in the party,” said a senior leader who did not wish to be named.
“Equally, it is aimed at protecting the Gandhi family’s control over the party. It is obvious that if she is actively taking interest in the minute functioning of the party, the detractors will be left with little to say,” the leader added
The Parliamentary party office of the Congress is a busy place these days, with Ms. Gandhi’s regular presence. On March 16, she held a meeting with Punjab MPs, listening intently to their analysis on the reasons for the Congress’s debacle in the State.
She followed it up with a meeting of Kerala MPs to sort out a controversy between Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor and his colleagues in Kerala. Ms. Gandhi told Mr. Tharoor in no uncertain terms not to to attend a seminar organised by the CPI(M), on the sidelines of its party congress between April 6 and 10, as the Kerala unit did not want him to.
The Congress chief prevented Mr. Tharoor from attending after taking direct feedback from Kerala MPs, many of whom she met individually.
In the ongoing Parliament session, Ms. Gandhi also made a Zero Hour intervention and accused social media giants, such as Facebook, of “hijacking” India’s democracy by interfering with the electoral process.
Days after Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee had said the Congress had lost all credibility, she subtly hit back by openly supporting her party colleague Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on the floor of the House when Mr. Chowdhury demanded a CBI and human rights probe against the West Bengal government over “political murders”.
In a rare display of aggression, Ms. Gandhi thumped her desk when Mr. Chowdhury said lawlessness prevailed in West Bengal.
Simultaneously, Ms. Gandhi is dealing with the direct challenge posed by the G-23 to the leadership of the Gandhis. First, she met Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is leading the reformist group, and then followed up by meeting Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari and Vivek Tankha, other prominent members of the group. Since these meetings, there have not been any fresh comments from the reformist group and temporary truce prevails.
