Congress denies 100 leaders writing to Sonia Gandhi seeking leadership change
NEW DELHI : Suspended Congress leader Sanjay Jha on Monday triggered a row by claiming that around 100 leaders had written to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking a change of political leadership, a claim the grand old party rushed to deny.
Jha, who was first sacked as spokesperson and later suspended from the party, took to Twitter on Monday to claim that a hundred leaders had petitioned Sonia Gandhi over the state of affairs in the Congress.
Some 100 Congress leaders have written to Sonia Gandhi asking for a change in the political leadership and transparent elections in the party, suspended leader Sanjay Jha claimed today in a tweet that was promptly rubbished by the party. The Congress alleged that the “non-existent letter” was an attempt to divert attention from the Facebook controversy and was being circulated by “BJP stooges”.
Sanjay Jha was sacked as spokesperson of the Congress last month after he publicly criticised the party in the turmoil over Sachin Pilot’s revolt.
“It is estimated that around 100 Congress leaders (including MPs), distressed at the state of affairs within the party, have written a letter to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Congress President, asking for change in political leadership and transparent elections in CWC. Watch this space,” Sanjay Jha tweeted this morning.
The Congress denied it in its briefing. “There is no such letter written by Congress members or MPs and the individual in question is doing this at the behest of the BJP to deflect the issue from BJP and its linkage with Facebook,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala retorted. He also put out a tweet.
A political row has erupted over a Wall Street Journal report that said that Facebook deliberately overlooks hate speech and objectionable content from BJP leaders and workers.
Though the Congress discredited Mr Jha’s tweet, a small but significant group within the party including former ministers and MPs – says it is in the process of requesting an appointment with Sonia Gandhi to discuss “matters of concern”. The tweet, these leaders say, is to preempt that meeting.
The group reportedly wants Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to come clean on the issue of leadership and whether they are firm about not leading the party in its trying times. The group has been rattled about the narrative of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra “resolving” the Rajasthan power struggle at a time the Congress should be addressing the leadership question.
In recent weeks, several Congress leaders have been vocal about the need for elections, which have often been just a formality for a party that has mostly been led by members of the Nehru-Gandhi family in its 135-year history.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, during an online media briefing, said Sonia Gandhi would remain president until “a proper procedure is implemented”.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor recently said the Congress must speed up its search for a full-term president “to arrest the growing public perception that the party is adrift and rudderless”.
(With Agency Inputs ).
