At CWC meet, Rahul Gandhi had a question on leak of letter that set off a storm

One of the members present at the meeting told HT that Rahul Gandhi questioned how the letter was leaked when it was written on the covering note that there is only one copy that was handed over to the Congress president and all other copies were destroyed.

During the seven-hour long marathon meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday, one of the signatories of the contentious letter that advocates changes in the Congress party and elections at every level, Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad read out a few lines from the letter. Till now, the full content of the letter written on August 7 have not been made public. But Hindustan Times has learnt that the letter-writers had demanded the letter be made available to each of the 52 members that were attending the Congress Working Committee so that their act could be understood in its full context that it was asking for reform and not a revolt against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress resolved on Monday to authorise Sonia Gandhi to stay on as party chief till an AICC session was called to elect the next president. (PTI PHOTO.)

However, that was not done and the letter writers say that this led to the other members of the Congress Working Committee criticising them without fully knowing what the letter was about. “We wanted the letter to be made public,” said one of the members of Parliament and signatories. “However, they chose not to do so.”’

HT has managed to access the lines that were read out at the meeting of the Congress’ highest decision-making body. The lines addressed to Congress President Sonia Gandhi say, “We deeply appreciate the leadership provided by you in difficult times and also recognise the commendable efforts of Shri Rahul Gandhi during his tenure as Congress President. Congress Party will always remember with pride and gratitude the supreme sacrifice of Shrimati Indira Gandhi and Shri Rajiv Gandhi for the unity and integrity of India,” it said.

Even as Azad read these lines, former president Rahul Gandhi questioned the claim that there were no copies of the letter. One of the members present at the meeting told HT that Gandhi questioned how the letter was leaked when it was written on the covering note that there is only one copy that was handed over to the Congress president and all other copies were destroyed.

One of the signatories to the letter said, “It was an orchestrated campaign for the invitees to slam the letter which they had not read. There were selective misreadings and misinterpretations,” said the Member of Parliament.

However, CWC member and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala dismissed these claims. “Azad and Anand Sharma, the two senior leaders have already given statements that they are satisfied and so the issue is now closed,” he said.

The party resolved on Monday to authorise Sonia Gandhi to stay on as party chief till an AICC session was called to elect the next president. The letter writers are now waiting to see if there is an impact of their letter, although all three letter writers Azad, Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha expressed their satisfaction with Sonia Gandhi’s comments at the meeting.

She had said, “We are a large family. We have differences and different views on many occasions, but, we come together as one. Organizational issues are always addressed within the organization. And the process of constitution and reconstitution is a continuous one.” Gandhi went on to say that she does not hold any ill will against any colleague, irrespective of however hurtful the remarks. “I have always risen above them to keep the Congress family together and to fight for the cause of the people,” she said.