The party is divided on the leadership matter with a section demanding collective leadership and another reposing faith in the Gandhi family.
The Congress Working Committee finally accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation during its second meeting of the day.
On Thursday, April 7, 2022, the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die. MPs from the Treasury and Opposition benches met thereafter in the Speaker's chambers for an exercise in enforced bon homie.
Can Nitishbabu create an anti-BJP phalanx like Jayaprakash Narayan did in 1977 or will his efforts come undone by Opposition leaders' political ambitions and, of course, the BJP's agency-aided campaign of intimidation?
Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation from the Congress on Friday marked the most high-profile exit of one of the "Group of 23" (G-23) leaders, who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi two years ago for a "collective and inclusive leadership" in the organisation, exposing the faultlines in the grand old party.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Pandavapura, participating in a public event of the party after a long gap.
Actor Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday said that she has filed an FIR after allegedly receiving threats over her posts on farmers' protests.
'Let me reveal for the first time that around August 2019 Congress President Sonia Gandhi told the Congress leadership and CWC members to form a consensus over the name of a non-Gandhi leader.'
'Why should Khargeji work against the Gandhis for the sake of proving his independence?'
'Gehlot is right now doing things, which are not appreciated by the Gandhis.' 'The Gandhis have realised that their writ does not run in Rajasthan, therefore they have deflected the issue to Kharge.'
The meeting of the Congress' top decision-making body has been convened after demands from some quarters within the party to discuss important issues, including some defections in the recent past.
The meeting assumes significance as the Maha Vikas Agahdi government in Maharashtra led by Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress is facing a turmoil after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that the state's Home minister gave a target to cops for collect Rs 100 crore every month.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said he has made his decision on whether he will become the next party president and asserted that he will give his reasons if he does not contest.
'The Congress wants to deprive Modi another term in 2024 and for that they are ready to make any sacrifice.'
Rahul Gandhi, in turn, thanked all the leaders for reposing faith in him and said he would apply his mind on their request of becoming the Congress president, the sources said.
Party president Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress chief ministers Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh and Charanjit Channi of Punjab attended the meeting.
'An old party like the Congress cannot rely solely on the prescriptions of a 'Doctor' whose motives and intentions are still unknown and that he does not look attached towards any party or ideology,' point out Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund was established in March last year with the primary objective to deal with any kind of emergency situation like the one currently posed by the COVID-19 outbreak and provide relief to those affected.
'Every Congressperson is disillusioned in different degrees.'
Members of the G-23, who had shown courage to point out the flaws in the party's functioning, have allowed themselves to be co-opted by the Family to go through the motions of a post-mortem, notes Virendra Kapoor.
'This kind of poisonous and anti-national activities happening in the country and the economic failure of the Modi government may boomerang in the form of a Congress revival.'
Glimpses of the CWC meeting, which was meant to formulate a plan to revive the party from the death throes of electoral irrelevance, but...
Sources said Sonia Gandhi referred to Azad and others twice during her brief address and the issues raised by them.
'The Congress cannot appreciate people with an independent opinion.' 'That's why many people left the party.'
In an apparent message to the G23, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said she is a full-time, hands-on party president and there is no need for leaders to speak to her through the media.
'I told Rahul: "You have to become president. Taalne se nahin hoga (you can't avoid the responsibility any longer)".' 'Rahul said: "I will think about it".'
What we have in the Congress is a useful glue to hold a non-cultural, unified Opposition together. That is the sacrifice the Congress must be willing to live with if showing the BJP the door is what the collective Opposition wants, observes Shyam G Menon.
'He is worried about how best the Punjab crisis can be resolved.'
'And because she was very close to Indira Gandhi, she was close to me.' 'Sonia is a wonderful person'
'Cultural nationalism or the victim card that you play is okay when people are well fed.' 'But if you are not well fed, then it puts a question mark (on your leadership).'
'There is a group who want to internally damage the Congress and they may be hand in glove with the BJP.'
Senior Congress leaders Anand Sharma, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kapil Sibbal, Raj Babbar, Vivek Tankha, Ghulam Nabi Azad will address an event in Jammu on Saturday which Manish Tiwari is also expected to join.
The appointees are expected to reflect Rahul Gandhi's vision of a new Congress with MP and Rahul's "bench mate" in the LS, KC Venugopal, expected to play an important role.
The Congress party will have an elected president by June 2021, with the party's working committee on Friday approving holding the internal election after the assembly polls.
'How and why did we lose so many seats in places where we were expected to win?'
The Congress on Monday deferred the election to the post of party president till the COVID-19 situation improves and decided to set up a group to assess losses in the recent assembly polls, with party chief Sonia Gandhi saying it has to put its house in order by facing reality and drawing lessons from the 'serious setbacks'.
'Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal are the two people who have been marked and punished'
The coming weeks will be a tightrope walk for Gehlot who has 100 loyalists MLAs waiting to be rewarded on one side and the dissidents who wanted to be rehabilitated on the other, observes Prakash Bhandari.
'Soniaji is like a mother to the party. We revere her even now'
'If the Congress party wants to take on the BJP it cannot do it in this fuddy-duddy, grand old party, style.'
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