Today's big Congress meeting to approve dates for the election for a new President had no discussion on the recent explosive resignation move of veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. Sources say dissident Congress leader Anand Sharma, questioning the preparations of electoral rolls for the Pesidential elections, wanted the electoral rolls of the Pradesh Congress Committee and District Congress Committee to be distributed and publicised. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi agreed to it, though Mr Sharma alleges there has been no real meeting of the CWC.
Speaking at the CWC meeting before the party's Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry listed out the schedule for the election of the Congress president, Mr Sharma claimed he has received complaints that neither any virtual nor any physical meeting was held to finalise the electoral rolls, sources said.
Mr Sharma, who is among the G-23 dissident leaders, has reportedly also pointed out that no Pradesh Congress Committee has received any list of delegates who will vote for the Congress President's election and such a process violates the sanctity of the election process.
Anand Sharma had a week ago resigned from the chairmanship of the party's steering committee for Himachal Pradesh, saying he was left with no choice after the "continuing exclusion and insults".
The crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting comes days after an explosive resignation letter by the party's G-23 dissident and former veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad blasting Rahul Gandhi for "childish behaviour", "glaring immaturity" and for letting a "coterie of inexperienced sycophants" run the party. In his letter, addressed to party president Sonia Gandhi, he also lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for "demolishing the party's entire consultative mechanism".
Mr Azad and Mr Sharma were part of the group of 23 dissident leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale reforms, including elections at all levels of the organisation.
AdvertisementThe online CWC meeting was presided over by Sonia Gandhi, who is abroad for medical checkups.
