Rahul Gandhi Urges Congress Colleagues to Back Him During CWC Meeting

Rahul Gandhi asked doubters within the Congress Working Committee to start believing in him during a meeting on Tuesday at the party headquarters. Gandhi told party leaders that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had remarked that if the BJP loses power, the Congress will be the one to replace it. Gandhi then questioned why some colleagues had not shown confidence in the vote theft campaign if top leaders from the ruling party were sure about the Congress replacing them. As leaders praised Gandhi for sticking to the issue, party president Mallikarjun Kharge intervened to say the entire leadership stands behind him. Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi advised the party to go all out on its demand to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while suggesting an informal Track-II approach for the CJP and avoiding legal steps on the CEC matter. Gandhi noted that sustained efforts had led to movement on vote theft and gaps in education systems.

Next Steps

Following the meeting, the Congress demanded the resignation of Modi, Shah, and Kumar. The party may propose joint Opposition rallies at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi and state capitals during an INDIA bloc meeting on Wednesday. Sirsa MP Kumari Selja urged expediting deliberations on a parliamentary motion seeking Kumar's resignation, while Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called for creating strong pressure through a mass movement to force his resignation.

Ideological Debates

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh suggested conducting a SWOT analysis of the RSS, calling it the main ideological rival, and remarked that the party should not have allowed former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to switch sides before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi responded that Nitish Kumar never wanted a national role in the INDIA bloc and preferred staying in Bihar. In a light exchange, Kharge quipped that he hoped to see Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor at a protest rather than just writing columns and social media posts.

Context

The Congress Working Committee functions as the highest decision-making body of the Indian National Congress, shaping major political strategies and organizational directions. Internal meetings often serve as a platform for senior leaders to debate electoral campaigns, leadership roles, and responses to policies from the ruling government.