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The Congress high command has found that there is a method in the sudden spurt of organisational crises within the party across the country. They are targeted at one leader — party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.
The loyalists see the hand of a group of leaders — including some general secretaries — in the problems that haunt the Congress in States such as Maharashtra, Assam, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
The loyalists are working overtime to diffuse the crisis.
“There are vested interests and those who prefer status quo in the party. When there is a crisis for the party, they will try to make most out of it,” a senior Congress general secretary told BusinessLine . He said discussions are on with warring leaders and none of the loyalists will leave the party at “this hour of crisis.”
The main issue for the regional leaders against Rahul is the change in the way tickets were distributed during the Lok Sabha elections.
The attempts to democratise the party, first by holding elections in the Youth Congress and the National Students Union, have also not gone down well with a group of leaders.
Apparently, many of the State leaders have voiced their concern at such experiments while deposing before the AK Antony panel that is studying the reasons for the defeat. A source said there is pressure on Antony to mention Rahul’s role in the process of selecting candidates and leading the campaign.
Role for Priyanka The attempt of senior Congress leaders who are against Rahul is to ensure status quo within the party. Party insiders point out that there is an effort by a section of leaders to coordinate resentment against the “democratisation process” within the party.
Some of them even want a larger role for Priyanka Gandhi within the party to check her brother Rahul.
For the record, the Congress maintained that the dissent among a section of leaders in various States is personality-centric.
Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the personal ambitions of certain leaders are the reason for the recent troubles.
The Congress, however, is unlikely to use any disciplinary action against the warring leaders.
“We will hold discussions with them. We are sure that everything can be sorted out after discussions,” another party general secretary said.
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