Rahul should form panel for suggesting name of new Cong chief, says Dwivedi
New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi on Tuesday raised the question about the selection of new Congress president after Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post last week.
Speaking to reporters, the former AICC general secretary questioned the process of informal consultation for reaching a consensus for the post of the new president but stopped short of saying it as 'unconstitutional'. He suggested that it would have been better if Rahul has nominated a few leaders for informal consultation within the party like former president Sonia Gandhi had given responsibilities to four seniors to discharge party function. Incidentally, Dwivedi was one of them.
According to him, a group of senior leaders who are members of the coordination committee which was formed prior to the general election are engaged in the process of consultation. But this committee has no mandate to do the same as per the constitution of the party. He said senior leader AK Anthony is also a member of the committee, but he doesn't attend such type of consultations. "So, there is no legitimacy of that committee," he asked.
Dwivedi also released a letter written by him to then Congress president Sonia Gandhi on 15th September of 2014, after the defeat of the party in 2014 Lok Sabha election. In that letter, he wanted to quit from the post of general secretary and requested Gandhi to reorganise the party with new generations and some other responsibilities to be given to older people who are not physically competent to do the work.
At that point in time, Gandhi told him not to make the letter public and for that reason, he didn't disclose to the media. He clarified that as Sonia Gandhi is no longer Congress president and Rahul Gandhi has also expressed his desire to quit from the post of party president he has chosen to disclose the letter to the media.
Dwivedi said when he first raised the issue of reservation on the basis of economic criteria, and how the party was lacking the perception among the people about Indianness and also about "saffron terror", he was profusely criticised by the party leaders. But today Congress party is silent on those very issues and rather apologetic, he lamented.
He said that if there is no freedom in the society or any organisation to express independent view then democracy dies in that organisation. He hopes that CWC will find a leader who is acceptable to the party workers. According to him if the leader is not accepted within the party then nation will also not accept that leader.
Lauding Rahul Gandhi for resigning as party president after the Lok Sabha poll results, Dwivedi said it is an ideal for other Congress leaders to follow.
