Its loyalists vs reformers in Congress

NEW DELHI: After the dissenting group in the Congress targetted the party leadership for the poor performance in the Bihar Assembly polls, the loyalists have now come out in defence of the top brass, even as the dissenters claimed that they are fighting for the revival of the Congress.

The Congress has issued a showcause notice to former MP Furqan Ansari for speaking against Rahul Gandhi. Ansari had suggested that Rahul Gandhi should have a political person with him rather than being surrounded by non-political people. “Rahul should have a political advisor rather than MBA graduates around,” he had said. Ansari’s son Irfan Ansari is an MLA in Jharkhand.

Meanwhile, two more senior Congress leaders have slammed Kapil Sibal for speaking against the party in public. Mallikarjun Kharge and Harish Rawat have attacked Sibal for finding fault with the party leadership, saying that Sibal should have motivated the party workers instead. Kharge also said that such people are weakening the party.

Sibal on his part said that he was compelled to speak publicly because there is no forum in the party to discuss such issues. Sibal had said that the party had lost the Bihar elections because of a lacklustre approach and weak media and election management.

Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has also slammed Sibal, saying that those who have problems could join another party.

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram too has raised concerns over the party’s deteriorating situation at the ground level, pointing out its weak organisational structure.

He had also pointed out that the party should have taken only winning seats in Bihar, albeit lesser in number.

Several Congress leaders, especially from Bihar, have been vocal on the issue. Some have also blamed the leaders from Delhi.

Former Bihar Minister Shakiluzaman Ansari had even called state Congress in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil and Avinash Pandey, the chairman of the screening committee, the ‘main culprits’.

Both Chidambaram and Sibal had also expressed concerns over the recent bypolls, where the Congress was wiped out despite being in direct contest with the BJP.

On Tuesday, the group constituted by party’s interim chief Sonia Gandhi to assist her, which includes Ambika Soni, Randeep Surjewala, K.C. Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik, met virtually to discuss the Bihar results as well as the bypolls.

Sources said that Bihar in-charge Gohil and Gujarat in-charge Rajeev Satav had even offered to quit, but were told to hold on till Sonia Gandhi took stock of the situation.

On the other hand, many leaders have come to the defence of the party leadership, including Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, who slammed Sibal for going on the issue.

Source: IANS