Family Problem: Congress President Sonia Gandhi with son Rahul
Team News Riveting
New Delhi, August 24
On May 2004, the scene was hysterical outside Congress headquarters in Delhi as party workers begged Sonia Gandhi to change her mind after news of her decision leaked out the day before she had been due to be sworn in as Prime Minister.
She had stunned the nation by turning down the post of Prime Minister as it lay within her grasp, saying she was doing so in the national interest.
Almost 16 years later, the scene at the Congress facilities was by and large same. The pandemic had prevented the workers to throng the offices, but their plea continued to be in the air.
As the political circle was buzzed with the reports that she would quit as Congress President, the party workers and those demonstrating loyalty in full public glare were requesting to reconsider the decision, if all she had taken.
This time, the end result was different. After marathon Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting that lasted for over seven hours, Sonia Gandhi accepted the plea of party men and agreed to remain in the post till the party organizational election.
What was different in the second event was the development unfolding after the meeting.
Soon after the CWC meeting concluded, a series of leaders rushed to the bungalow of Gulam Nabi Azad who is among the 26 senior leaders who wrote to Congress President calling for a “full time visible leadership”. The letter created commotion in Congress.
And late in the evening, a senior leader puts it briefly, all is not well in the party.
