Tension simmering in Congress as CWC meets today
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New Delhi: At 4 p.m. today Congress leaders will finally sit around the box table, convening its working committee, to think over the reasons behind the election failure.
There has been no greater humiliation to the leadership than the poll outcome in five states, with the party being reduced to square one.
The crisis has brought to fore inner faultiness so far kept under wraps, and a crop of veterans, quite out of character, has huddled together soon after results came out, and introspected. They are reportedly sad and humiliated and wanted a sweeping change in the party.
What is termed as the big Sunday is going to be a very decisive as the party is not yet able to choose a president. Meanwhile, it could be stormy as resignations are expected over election debacle from key office holders. Each resignation, according to sources, is costly and in the past when the Sonia Gandhi offered to quit, the leadership rejected it-- could this stop-gap trick repeat?
This time round the rebel group within has gained more strength hedging in top leaders. A report by IANS says that CWC members loyal to Gandhis could offer resignation. In the event of their quitting, the Congress can't hold off any more from choosing a new leader. Some sources say the party has to make do with at least an interim President—Priyanka Ganhi's name is hovering on the inside of the party.
Today CWC is convening in the wake of G 23 leaders meeting at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence on Friday soon after the poll results and they were known to be putting pressure on the party to act.
It appears that they will brook no delay in electing a new president, and conducting organizational polls as well as convening AICC to discuss the poll debacle, according to reports.
The Group-23 (G-23) leaders huddled at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence included Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma and Akhilesh Prasad Singh while some leaders joined virtually, and the meeting underlines the fact that tension is simmering within the party.
The Congress lost Punjab, a state under its control to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and could not put up a decent fight in three other states where the party aspired to form the government -- Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.