Adhir Slams Dissenters, Says Those Raising Questions Against Gandhis Want to Weaken Congress Party

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury came down heavily on Sunday on a section of his party colleagues who have questioned the leadership, by saying it is a "deliberate attempt" to weaken the Congress while asserting that the party is in safe hands of the Gandhi family.

Accusing the said section of Congress leaders of raising the bogey of "leadership crisis" at the behest of "interested parties" as a "manufactured truth", Chowdhury, the Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said lakhs of party workers and supporters have unquestionable faith on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi's leadership and "no one else can do justice to the post" of party president.

"We, the members of Parliament representing the length and breadth of the country, have heard and read with dismay and disbelief about these claims being made by even those members of the party, who have benefitted and grown in the Congress due to your encouragement and the faith that you have placed in them," Chowdhury, a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), said in a letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi.

His remarks came in the backdrop of 23 Congress leaders, including some former ministers, writing to Sonia Gandhi for an overhaul of the party's organisational structure.

At a time when the country is facing a "grave threat" from the BJP-RSS and their fascist governance, to raise the bogey of "leadership crisis" at the behest of interested parties is only a "manufactured truth", Chowdhury said in his letter to Sonia Gandhi.

"They would like to perpetuate to derail yours and Rahulji's persistent efforts to pin down the Modi government on its failed governance. This is a deliberate attempt to weaken the party," he added.

Referring to Sonia Gandhi's refusal to take over as the prime minister in 2004 and Rahul Gandhi's decision to step down from the post of Congress president after the party's 2019 Lok Sabha polls debacle, Chowdhury said these decisions prove that the family do not hanker for power.

Expressing complete faith in Sonia Gandhi's leadership, he said she took over the reins of the Congress at a difficult time and shepherded the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to power at the Centre when the grand old party was least expected to run the country.

Chowdhury lauded the contribution of Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh for ensuring economic and social growth of the country as compared to the "prevailing propaganda and 'jumlas' put together". "We would like, therefore, to reiterate our complete and unwavering faith in your leadership of the Congress party. The Congress party is only safe in your hands or in those of Rahulji. No one else can, nor will, do justice," he said.

Chowdhury's comments assume significance as they come just ahead of the CWC meeting on Monday in New Delhi, where the leadership issue is likely to be discussed with Sonia Gandhi completing a year as the interim party chief..