New Delhi: Facing an internal crisis, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) began a virtual meeting this morning to discuss the issue of party leadership. Sonia Gandhi has said that she would step down from the party’s leadership position, while the Jammu and Kashmir Congress has put its weight behind Rahul Gandhi to become the next President. 

This comes after a letter written by 27 senior Congress leaders, and signed by the likes of Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor among several others, sought reforms in the party. 

Rahul Gandhi, during CWC meeting, said the letter (to Sonia Gandhi about party leadership) was written at a time when Congress Government in Rajasthan was facing a crisis, the right place to discuss what was written in the letter was CWC meeting and not the media. Rahul Gandhi said why the letter was sent at a time when Sonia Gandhi was admitted in the hospital. 

A furious Rahul Gandhi intervened in the meeting after his mother Sonia Gandhi announced that she wanted to “be relieved of the post of party President”. He also accused the signatories of the letter of working in cahoots with the ruling BJP. Rahul intervened shortly after former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh accused “dissenters” were colluding with the BJP. 

In a sharp retort to Rahul Gandhi’s words, senior party member Kapil Sibal tweeted: “Rahul Gandhi says we are colluding with BJP. Succeeded in Rajasthan High Court defending the Congress Party, defending party in Manipur to bring down BJP Govt… Last 30 years have never made a statement in favour of BJP on any issue. Yet we are colluding with the BJP.”