Respect the sanctity of closed-door CWC meet: Congress to media

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 27

Amid unease among top Congress leaders about Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi taking on the leaders for not doing enough during the Lok Sabha poll campaign and for furthering family interests over party’s, the Congress on Monday issued a statement urging the media to respect the sanctity of a closed-door meeting and wait for the corrective future course of action.

“The Congress Working Committee is the highest decision-making body of the Indian National Congress. It is a democratic forum to exchange ideas, formulate policies and take corrective action. In this realm and context, members of the CWC expressed their views in the meeting dated May 25, 2019,” Congress media Chief Randeep Surjewala said.

He said the CWC looked at the reverses in the Lok Sabha elections as an opportunity for radical changes and a complete organisational overhaul, for which it authorised Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

“The Congress Party expects everyone, including the media, to respect the sanctity of a closed-door meeting of the CWC. Various conjectures, speculations, insinuations, assumptions, gossip and rumour mongering in a section of the media is uncalled for and unwarranted,” Surjewala noted not denying any news in particular.

He said the CWC held a collective deliberation on the performance of the party, the challenges before it, as also the way ahead, instead of casting aspersions on the role or conduct of any specific individual.

“The gist of the deliberations was made public in the CWC resolution of May 25, 2019.

We would request everyone, including the media, to not fall into the trap of conjectures or speculations and await the calibrated efforts by the Congress party towards future course of action,” Surjewala said, after reports that Rahul Gandhi named veterans Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath and P Chidambaram for putting sons before the party and Priyanka Vadra also giving a piece of her mind to seniors accusing them of not standing by her brother during the canvassing.

Rahul is said to have taunted Chidambaram and Nath who allegedly threatened to leave the party should their sons not get tickets. Gandhi took swipes at Gehlot for spending a week on his son’s campaign neglecting the rest of the state.

Veterans are learnt to have been hurt by these outrpourings which even became public. “It’s hurtful. After all Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath just led two states to victory. Let’s see,” said a party veteran.

Randeep Surjewala’s statement today is seen as an attempt to douse some fires within the Congress over the Gandhi siblings losing their cool.

Meanwhile, there was no discussion at the CWC on Amethi which Rahul lost or on the many seats where Priyanka campaigned but party drew a blank.

Kamal Nath’s son Nakul was the only Congress MP who won in Madhya Pradesh, while Chidambaram’s son Karti won Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu.