On eve of Sonia's meeting with 'letter writers', Congress asserts Rahul best suited to lead party
New Delhi, Dec 18: Ahead of a crucial meeting of Sonia Gandhi with a section of senior leaders who had written to her in August demanding an overhaul of the organisation, the Congress on Friday downplayed any internal dissensions and said Rahul Gandhi was the "right person" to lead the party.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party stood united and together as a family and there are no dissensions pending after the announcement of elections to the party chief's post.
The assertion comes ahead of Saturday's meeting between Sonia Gandhi and many of the 23 leaders who wrote to her in August. They had also demanded an active leadership and maintained that Gandhis will always be a "guiding force".
Sources said among those slated to meet Gandhi are Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, the party's deputy leader in the upper house Anand Sharma, former chief ministers Bhupinder Hooda and Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari, Vivek Tankha and Shashi Tharoor.
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and senior leader P Chidambaram will also be part of the meeting, the sources added.
Rahul Gandhi is also set to attend the meeting, the sources confirmed.
Even as the party downplayed any internal frictions, the "letter writers" maintain that the issues they raised remain relevant and are "far from over".
Azad had recently slammed "five-star culture" in the party and said elections must be held at all organisational levels starting from the block.
Surjewala, however, said all issues raised by the "letter writers" stood resolved after Sonia Gandhi announced elections for the Congress president.
"This is not a meet of any special group of leaders. This is not a meet of any dissenters or rebels. Because we consider each leader and each worker as part of the family," he said while seeking to downplay the meet.
"Congress workers and the electoral college including the AICC members of the party will choose a person best suited for the post.
"It is my belief and the belief of overwhelming majority of 99.9 per cent leaders and workers that Rahul Gandhi is the right person to lead the party and to take on the Modi government," Surjewala said.
He said Rahul Gandhi is perhaps that "rare breed" of leaders who has fearlessly questioned the anti-people policies of Modi government and endearing himself not only to congress workers but also to ordinary Indians.
"We feel Rahul Gandhi should lead the party from the front," he said.
Asked about Saturday's meeting, he said the Congress president was unable to meet people on many issues for a considerable amount of time on account of COVID protocol.
Starting Saturday and over a period of the next fortnight, Sonia Gandhi is going to meet and decide on various organisational issues besides those like winter session of Parliament not held, the farmers agitation and finalising alliances in key states, he said.
Surjewala said addressing issues raised by some of the senior leaders, Sonia Gandhi has already decided to hold elections to the post of president of Congress and that the process is currently underway.
"All matters stand resolved with the announcement of the election of the next Congress president so there are no internal issues of dissensions of any nature that are pending in the party.
"BJP continues to sometimes propagate such insinuations which our leaders do not believe including those who had written letters. We are one family. We will stay united and work together," he said.
The president of Congress will be chosen by the electoral college of the party, he said.
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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
