December 21, 2025

Is Collective Leadership The Solution To Congress' Problems?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-03-17 06:01:57

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

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After the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting after another poll debacle that went as per the script now perfected by the Gandhi family, the dissenters in the party, more famously known as the G-23, met at Ghulam Nabi Azad's house on Wednesday to conduct their own post mortem. The original group is now expanding as they were joined by Shashi Tharoor, who has till now been a fence sitter as far as the Gandhi family was concerned and Mani Shankar Iyer who was a die-hard loyalist, among others .

Obviously, the G-23 is not satisfied with the continued control of the Gandhi family over the party and the cosmetic decisions taken in the CWC. While the others have not openly called for the resignation of the Gandhis, Kapil Sibal has not minced words when he said he wanted a "sab ki Congress" and not "ghar ki Congress", drawing a sharp response from Ashok Gehlot and Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, among other Congress leaders. But as per reports, Sonia Gandhi has reached out to the dissidents and wants to hold talks with them over their demand for inclusive leadership.

At the meeting, the group felt that the party was being marginalized and to prevent that, drastic corrective measures are needed. It also felt that the high command failed to recognize that there are some people who themselves are the problem and it has appointed them to carry out the reorganization after the recent poll debacle. It issued a statement that said "we believe the only way forward is for the Congress to adopt the model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision-making at all levels. In order to oppose BJP, it is necessary to strengthen Congress. We demand Congress to initiate dialogue with other like-minded forces to create a platform to pave the way for a credible alternative for 2024."

It seems that the G-23 also feels that the Gandhis are the glue that binds the party. That is why it is not recommending that the Gandhis resign and make way for others. It fails to recognize that since the Gandhis are easy target of the BJP's dynastic politics charge (which Kapil Sibal has recognized) and that many regional parties whom they wish to tie up with not willing to accept Rahul Gandhi as the face of the opposition, it would be better for the party to be headed by a non-Gandhi now with a new team with new ideas to enable it to reinvent itself. Collective leadership is not the solution to the problems being faced by the Congress. It needs a new leader to take on Narendra Modi and the BJP.