Priyanka pitch for Congress leadership change a result of power tussle in Nehru-Gandhi family, say partymen

NEW DELHI: After facing embarrassing drubbings in the last two Lok Sabha elections and several state polls in the last few years, Congress leaders and workers were already restive over the issue of party leadership. Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has now stirred up a hornet’s nest by her remark that a non-Gandhi should lead the organisation.
While a vocal minority has reposed its trust in the leadership of the Nehru-Gandhi family, a silent majority, craving for a change in party leadership, has welcomed Priyanka’s statement.
A debate, mostly in hush tones, over the leadership issue of the Congress has already started in party circles.
In an interview, Priyanka said a non-Gandhi should lead the party, as sought by Rahul Gandhi after he resigned from the post.
“He has said that none of us should be president of the party and I am in full agreement with him,” Priyanka said, adding, “I think that the party should find its own path also.”
Priyanka’s comments came in an interview given on July 1, 2019 for a book on the next generation leaders of the country. The excerpts of the interview, however, were published in The Print on Tuesday.
A day later, Priyanka’s views found vocal support from Sanjay Jha, who was recently sacked as the Congress spokesperson.
Echoing Priyanka’s remarks, he remarked, “I said exactly the same thing, the need for a new non-Gandhi Congress president to rejuvenate the Grand Old Party. But that became ‘an anti-party activity’.“

Ever since Jha was suspended from the party, he introduces himself on Twitter as a “Congressi by DNA”. “Sacked and suspended by the Congress for wanting internal democracy,” this is how he describes himself.
Several Congress leaders timesofindia.com spoke with echoed Priyanka’s concerns. Talking on the condition of anonymity, they said it was high time, the Nehru-Gandhis made way for others to lead the party.
One leader said, “Though Rahul Gandhi stepped down as the Congress president on August 10 last year following the humiliating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections besides he losing his family’s pocket borough of Amethi to Union minister Smriti Irani, he is still enjoying a firm grip on the party.”
He alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s stepping down was just an eyewash. “He is still controlling the Congress even as his mother is the interim president and leading the party just as a titular head.”
Another leader went on to allege that Priyanka Gandhi’s remarks were the result of an internal tussle going on in the Nehru-Gandhi family.
He alleged that a power struggle was brewing between Rahul and Priyanka. “Sonia Gandhi is inclined towards Rahul. However, Priyanka is making sincere efforts to emerge out of the shadows of her mother and brother and establish herself as a serious party worker.”
A senior Congress leader accused Rahul of trying to confine Priyanka to Uttar Pradesh so that she did not pose a threat to him for the party president’s post.
“Rahul is doing shadow boxing. Either he should shape up and fight from the front instead of hiding behind his mother or he should ship out. He is neither working seriously nor letting Priyanka to work freely and independently,” he said.
Yet another one said Priyanka has played an acer against Rahul. "She is trying to bargain for a better position in the party by making such remarks," he said.
Suggesting a solution to the impasse, another senior leader said the Gandhis should just be patrons of the party. “We need the Nehru-Gandhis because they are the binding force. Without them the Congress would disintegrate as it had happened after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination,” he said.
He said a non-Nehru-Gandhi should be elected as the president of the Congress. “He should be given a free hand to function. If the party’s fortunes change, he should be credited with it. Otherwise, he must admit his failures and give a chance to some other leader,” the leader said.
However, a section of the Congress sought to defend the Nehru-Gandhi leadership in full-throttle.
In a series of three tweets posted on Wednesday itself, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala sought to justify the leadership provided by the Nehru-Gandhi family.
In a series of three tweets, Surjewala said the Nehru-Gandhi family had held together and served the Congress, unmindful of the trappings of power.
He said, “In 2004, Sonia Ji set an example by sacrificing power to serve the party. In 2019, Rahul Ji showed the courage of conviction and stepped down as the INC (Indian National Congress) president.

Surjewala further said, “We at the Congress, appreciate the sudden media interest (egged on by the BJP) in a year-old remark (dated July 1, 2019) of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The context today is to take on the vicious attack on India’s polity by Modi-Shah dispensation and fight it fearlessly on the front foot.)
He said millions of Congress workers and leaders had seen that Rahul had led the fight tirelessly, undaunted by the setbacks and “the vile attacks by the Modi government on a daily basis”.
“It is this fearlessness and uncompromising courage that INC requires, workers respect and the nation needs,” he added.