High drama played out at the nearly seven-hour Congress Working Committee meeting with sources saying that Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the letter writers and some leaders found it to be insinuating that it was written in cahoots with the BJP.
Several leaders, including many MPs, wrote to Sonia Gandhi, either calling for her to continue or urging Rahul Gandhi to take charge.
'... while leaving the dirty work he orders to his subordinates.'
P Chidambaram proposed that Sonia should be made the party's interim president.
Rajeev Shukla, who resigned as the chairman of the Indian Premier League, has no problem in chairing the Governing Council meeting in New Delhi on Friday, though he is still unsure whether to continue in that position when his term comes to an end.
'It would indeed be difficult for someone from outside the Gandhi family to run the party'
The current battle within the party is seen as setting the stage for August 10 when Sonia completes one year of interim presidentship, and questions are being raised about a leadership vacuum. For the first time, responsible quarters are suggesting that as Sonia cannot function as interim president indefinitely and Rahul seems to want power but not the responsibility, one way out is collective leadership, reports Aditi Phadnis.
The BJP on the other hand is in power in 16 states in the country.
Former MP Dr Ajoy Kumar on Monday offered to resign from the post of president of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee and Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar quit their posts.
Calling for availability of all necessary equipment for medical professionals, she said the onus lies on the government to ensure that the spread of infection and casualties are not caused owing to lack of infrastructure or preparedness.
Addressing the Congress Working Committee, the president of the party said, ""Misfortunes do not come singly. India has been hit by a terrible economic crisis, a pandemic of huge proportions and, now, by a full-blown crisis on the borders with China. Much of each crisis is attributable to the mismanagement of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government and the wrong policies pursued by it."
Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Inderjit Singh Bindra on Tuesday said that he had written a letter to current head of interim group Jagmohan Dalmiya ahead of the Working Committee meeting demanding suspension of controversial franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
'It is mind-boggling that a party can be in rigor mortis even after numerous electoral defeats,' observes Ramesh Menon.
Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani said they took the decision following extensive deliberations involving lawyers and experts.
Former BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele has equated the happenings at the BCCI's Emergent Working Committee meeting in Chennai to match-fixing in itself and termed the process of appointing Jagmohan Dalmiya as head of a four-member interim arrangement as "unconstitutional".
Trinamool Congress on Saturday removed Mukul Roy, a former confidante of Mamata Banerjee, from the key post of party general secretary.
Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anurag Thakur along with Indian Premier League chairman Rajeev Shukla on Wednesday met the representatives of the six IPL franchises to intimate them about the modalities of the Players' Auction for years 2016 and 2017.
The Wayanad lawmaker, who became the Congress president in 2017, offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for the Congress' abysmal performance in the 17th Lok Sabha elections.
Kishor posted a tweet 'thanking' Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for their 'formal and unequivocal' rejection of the NRC. He also reassured the people of Bihar that the CAA and NRC will not be implemented in the state. However, JD-U's ally BJP got rankled by Kishor's move and made contrary claims.
Chauhan, a former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, said political parties governed by dynasty, family and caste politics were defeated everywhere including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the general elections.
The two troubled Indian Premier League franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, can breathe easy as members of the Board may not push for their termination at the Working Committee meeting to be chaired by newly appointed President Shashank Manohar in Mumbai on Sunday.
BCCI's Working Committee members were unanimous in their opinion that a legal recourse must be planned against unrecognised Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma for 'spreading baseless rumours' against president-in-exile Narayanswami Srinivasan and Co.
'We were expecting at least they would be held guilty, but instead they have gone scot-free'
Tharoor also said that he certainly thinks Rahul Gandhi has the "mettle, capability and aptitude to once again lead the party", but if he does not wish to do so then the party must "take action" to elect a new chief.
The Congress and other opposition parties have accused the police of bias and inaction in the Delhi violence.
Barely a few hours after an emergent meeting of the BCCI's working committee, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla reiterated that members were unanimous in their decision to take strong action against the players if they are found guilty in the spot-fixing scandal.
Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma moved an application in the Supreme Court for declaring Narayanswami Srinivasan as ineligible or disentitled to hold the post of president of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.
The letter was not a challenge to leadership but a parchment of action to strengthen the party, Congress MP Vivek Tankha asserted, while former union minister Mukul Wasnik said those who saw the letter as an "offence" will also soon realise that the issues raised are worth consideration.
One way forward could be for the CWC to name an interim working president for the party and then ideally dissolve itself, following which the main leadership positions within the party, including the CWC itself, should be opened up to fresh elections
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday indicated it will appeal against former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti's report that went in favour of Kochi Tuskers, the erstwhile Indian Premier League franchise whose contract was terminated by the Board in 2011 because of an alleged breach of contract.
Anil Kumble along with Ravi Shastri was the front runner for the coach's job, which was left vacant since Duncan Fletcher's departure after the 50-overs World Cup last year in Australia.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India is all set to retain the support staff members comprising of Sanjay Bangar, R Sridhar and Bharat Arun, who came in as temporary replacements for Trevor Penny and Joe Dawes.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will hold an emergency meeting in Chennai on Sunday. And, the beleaguered BCCI president, N Srinivasan, is likely to announce his resignation at the meeting, after being virtually isolated by his team in the Board.
The BCCI Working Committee will meet in Bhubaneswar to shortlist two prospective countries which will be kept as alternative venues for the seventh edition of the IPL which is co-inciding with the general elections.
High drama was witnessed in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) on Monday with a rebel group electing state Sports Minister Imran Ansari as the body's president in an attempt to end Farooq Abdullah's 35-year rein but the move was stayed by a Jammu court.
The Punjab CM said a young leader with a forward-looking approach would "galvanise" the rank and file of the party after the "unfortunate" resignation of Gandhi.
The Congressman is said to have written a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi apprising her of his decision.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance.
'For people like me, we already have leaders, we have a leader in Mrs Sonia Gandhi, we have a leader in Rahul Gandhi'
Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who served as press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee during his tenure, salutes the statesman and political legend, who passed into the ages on Monday.
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