Congress: The Rift Widens As The G-23 Goes Public Again
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-03-01 06:47:16
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The infighting in the Congress continues unabated. In fact, with the party deciding not to give another Rajya Sabha term to Ghulam Nabi Azad, the rift seems to have widened. Some of the leaders of the so-called G23, the group that shot off a letter to party interim president Sonia Gandhi and started the tiff, recently took the public stage in Jammu and lambasted the party leadership once again for doing nothing to reverse the slide of the party.
Stressing the fact that it was not the intention of the G23 to weaken the party by their warnings, the leaders said that the party was becoming weaker as there was no one to take command and do all that is necessary to revive the flagging fortunes of the grand old party. Leaders like Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal and Raj Babbar, along with Ghulam Nabi Azad and others, were of the opinion that the party needs a full-time president and organizational elections to bring it back in shape.
As expected, the party did not take kindly to their advice. They were told that instead of criticizing the party in public, they should hit the states where elections are due in March and April. But the party fails to understand their main grievance - that if the state of affairs in the party continue to remain in limbo, the party will be unable to counter the BJPs awesome election machinery and win elections even if it campaigns hard.
It is surprising that despite being humbled at the hustings repeatedly, the Congress leadership is doing nothing to address the issues raised by the G23. The Congress cries hoarse that the Narendra Modi government is intolerant and uses the sedition law to go after those who express dissent to its policies. But it is doing the same to the G23. If it cannot tolerate dissent within the party, how can people trust it? If the Congress wishes to fight the BJP, it needs to be battle ready. For that, it has to take the suggestions of the dissenters seriously.
