Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SHP)
New Delhi, Aug 23: Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has responded to the letter written by top Congress leaders where they urged for a meeting to discuss the internal crisis that has been plaguing the party.
In her response to the letter, Sonia Gandhi has told the party leaders to get together and find a new party chief. She also told them that she was not interested in leading the party once again when the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on August 10 had requested her to assume the reins of the organisation again, sources stated.
Gandhi said that she would step down from the party's interim chief's post at the internal meeting to be held on Monday August 24.
Sonia Gandhi accepted the post of the interim chief after much persuasion only on one condition that the party would find her replacement soon.
After Rahul Gandhi had decided to resign from his post, Congress leaders had approached Sonia Gandhi to take over.
At that time too, Sonia Gandhi mentioned in her response that she had insisted that the new president should be someone from outside the Gandhi family, a senior functionary of the party quoted from the letter.
Reportedly, Rahul Gandhi while resigning from the top post had also told the Congress Working Committee in its meeting on May 25, that the party should elect a non-Gandhi as its new president.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) is holding a meeting on Monday, August 24 to raise issues regarding the internal crisis in the party. The letter signed by 23 top party leaders to Sonia Gandhi seeks to discuss the leadership issue present within the party.
CWC will be assembling for an online meeting on Monday, three weeks after a meeting witnessed the clash by leaders over the party's political decline.
The letter was signed by members of parliament, former ministers and chief ministers and members of the CWC. The senior party leaders have said they are unhappy with "uncertainty" and "drift" in the party, along with demanding "honest introspection", "collective leadership", and stressing that the "youth are losing confidence" in the party.
The letter was signed by senior leaders like Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Prithviraj Chavan, Vivek Tankha and Anand Sharma.
Congress Communication Department chief Randeep Surjewala, however, denied any such move by Sonia Gandhi, saying nothing has been communicated by the interim President or said on her behalf.
A top aide of Sonia Gandhi too denied any such move and said that everything will depend on the Congress Working Committee meet.
The Gandhi family has found strong backing from Punjab and Chhatisgarh Chief Ministers, with the former, Captain Amarinder Singh saying that "this is not the right time to raise this demand (of a leadership change)".
His Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel has urged Rahul Gandhi to return as the party's leader.
State Congress units are likely to hold emergency meetings to back the Gandhis for the top post.
Even some of the leaders who have written a letter to the party, said that there is no dispute on the leadership issue of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
The pro-Gandhi brigade is likely to take on the dissenters in the CWC meet, while many names have started doing the rounds, especially two Dalit leaders - Mallikarjun Kharge and Sushilkumar Shinde, as likely replacements if Sonia Gandhi doesn't want to continue.
While Kharge is close to Rahul Gandhi, Shinde has been a former Home Minister and Maharashtra Chief Minister.
Sources say that a collective system may also be proposed or a team of leaders may be appointed as Vice Presidents to assist Sonia Gandhi in case there is no consensus on the change of the leadership and Rahul Gandhi does not want to return to the leadership role.
With inputs from agencies