Rahul Gandhi quit as Congress president last year over the party’s national election defeat.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are likely to be present in Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s meeting tomorrow with a group of 23 “rebels”, sources say.
The Gandhis’ meeting with the rebels, who wrote a letter flagging a leadership drift and calling for sweeping organizational changes, is said to be a big step towards reconciliation after months of infighting and in-house attacks.
But the Congress claims it is not just a meeting with rebels; others who were not signatories to the letter will also be present.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath played a big part in getting Sonia Gandhi to agree to the meeting, say sources. Kamal Nath has backed the cause of the so-called dissident leaders, who had expressed concern over the party’s downslide and had called for an “active and present leadership” in a letter in August. It was a stunning act of defiance by a group that included the party’s senior most defenders and spokespersons.
Kamal Nath, who lost power in Madhya Pradesh in March following senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia’s defection to the BJP, had so far kept a distance from the dissenters.
Signs of a thaw have emerged as the Congress looks to elect a new chief in the New Year. Sonia Gandhi, 74, has been interim party president since her son Rahul Gandhi quit last year over the Congress’s second straight national election defeat.
Since then, the party has lost two key states, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, and has barely held on to Rajasthan, where rebel Sachin Pilot came around after meeting with the Gandhis.
Recently, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot hinted that the threat of the BJP trying to topple his government with help from Congress rebels was not gone. Mr Gehlot may also be present in the meeting.
A rebellion threatened to flare up again last month after the Congress’s abysmal performance in the Bihar election. Kapil Sibal, one of the letter writers, went public with a sharp jab at the leadership, saying “the time for introspection is over”. After him, other party leaders like P Chidambaram also called for a “comprehensive review” and suggested that the party needed to strengthen its core.
