NEW DELHI: The seven-hour-long CWC was a stormy session, as expected, after the contents of a letter written by senior Congress leaders to party chief Sonia Gandhi came in public domain, with pro-Gandhi sentiments taking over and signatories to the letter facing the heat and being panned for ‘betrayal’.
What came as a big blow to senior leaders and CWC members Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik, who were among signatories to the letter, was Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra taking them head-on.
Sources said the Gandhis were seemingly upset over the letter being leaked to the media.
Rahul pointed out that Azad sent reminders about the letter while his mother was in the hospital and the party was in the midst of a crisis in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Priyanka cornered Azad and others in the group saying what they spoke at the CWC was different from what they had penned in the letter. Azad, who offered to resign, kept clarifying that letter was not to question Sonia’s leadership or Rahul but speaker after speaker accused them of ‘betrayal’, called it a shameful action.
They were accused of being thankless and attempting to weaken the party.
Many CWC members called for an action against the “dissenters” as per party constitution for writing to Sonia and pointing fingers at her leadership. Ambika Soni, who is considered close to Sonia, was very vocal and said rules should be same for all when they break the party discipline.
AK Antony said weakening the high command was akin to weakening the party while Ahmed Patel questioned the need to write a letter and later leaking it to the media. Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja alleged betrayal saying these leaders have enjoyed key positions for years.