There were leaders present at the dinner who have not put their signatures to the subsequent letter
The letter sent by 23 Congress leaders to the party's top leadership, seeking a full-time, visible president, was in the making for over five months and informal deliberations about it began at a dinner hosted by Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor in March, Hindustan Times reported.
Around 20 party leaders had written to Sonia Gandhi demanding an overhaul of the organisational structure, including elections to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and reconstitution of the Parliamentary board.
There were leaders present at the dinner who have not put their signatures to the subsequent letter. Among those who were present but did not sign the letter included former Union minister P Chidambaram, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Sachin Pilot, the report stated.
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"I was invited to the dinner by Shashi Tharoor at a day’s notice. There was an informal discussion on the constructive issue of reforms within the party. Subsequently, I was not informed about the formulation of the letter at any stage," Singhvi told the newspaper.
While the others did not respond or chose not to comment for various reasons, Aiyar told the newspaper that he did not sign the letter because nobody approached him.
"There was a general discussion to revive the party and the need to return to our secular credentials. There was a suggestion, which nobody opposed, of the need to send a letter. Nobody, however, approached me after that dinner," Aiyar said.
One of the signatories told the newspaper that the "Gandhis and other senior leaders" should read the message and "not shoot the messenger."
"It is about issues, not personalities. The Gandhis and other senior leaders should read the message and not shoot the messenger. We have put our names to the letter because we believe that we need to reform. There is no cloak and dagger here," the leader said.
The letter had caused a furore within the party ranks, promoting the CWC to meet virtually on August 24 to discuss the matter.
After a marathon seven-hour long meeting, the CWC in its resolution on August 24 urged the party's workers to raise inter-party issues only within the party fora "in the interest of propriety and discipline" while also urging the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi to continue till an All India Congress Committee (AICC) session can be convened.