Sonia plays key role in forging Parliament strategy

Party insiders say that Sonia Gandhi’s intervention in key issues of parliamentary management is not surprising given that she asserted last year in a Congress Working Committee meeting that she was a hands-on president.

On January 28, in an online meeting of the Congress’ strategy group for Parliament, party president Sonia Gandhi told Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, its Lok Sabha floor leader, that he should give others too a chance to participate in the debates.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. (ANI)

Gandhi’s intervention, some participants in the meeting said, underlined how she continues to closely follow the party’s parliamentary affairs and gives important, necessary inputs and directions -- even as most organisational issues are now directly handled by former party president Rahul Gandhi.

If Chowdhury was told to give others space in the last parliamentary strategy group meeting, in a similar meeting before the winter session, Sonia Gandhi indicated that she did not want him to be replaced as the floor leader. Sonia had described Chowdhury as a “real fighter” and admitted that while he makes some mistakes while speaking in Parliament (a possible reference to Chowdhury’s remarks during the scrapping of Article 370), he reads a lot and knows the rules and procedures “very well”, the participants added on condition of anonymity.

Party insiders say that Sonia Gandhi’s intervention in key issues of parliamentary management is not surprising given that she asserted last year in a Congress Working Committee meeting that she was a hands-on president. That meeting came in the backdrop of allegations by some members of a group of 23 leaders that, in 2019, wrote to Gandhi seeking changes in how the party was run, that vital organizational decisions were being taken by other people. “I am a full-time and hands-on president,” she said in response.

On December 14, it Gandhi, the head of the Congress parliamentary party, who invited the DMK, Shiv Sena, NCP, CPI(M), and National Conference for a meeting to discuss their parliamentary strategy during the budget session. . She kept the TMC, irked by constant rants by some leaders of that party against the Congress, and its poaching of Congress leaders, the people cited above said. The meeting discussed how to end the logjam following the suspension of 12 Opposition MPs.

It isn’t as if Rahul Gandhi does not involve himself in any of the party’s parliamentary affairs, the people added. During the monsoon session last year, he joined daily strategy meetings at Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s office; and he called a breakfast meeting of all Opposition leaders during last year’s budget session. But it is clear that Sonia Gandhi is involved in many of the key decisions,

A larger part of her role in Parliament comes automatically with her position as the Congress president and the CPP chairperson, but while she has delegated several responsibilities in the organization to others, “she still has the final say in the choice of Rajya Sabha tickets for candidates,” said a senior strategist.

“Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not too keen for a re-nomination in the Rajya Sabha in 2019 but Sonia convinced him to stay in the Upper House. In last year December, a former chief minister and a family loyalist with deep connections in Indian cricket were keen to bag the vacant seat from Maharashtra but Sonia decided to give it to Rajani Patil,” added the party strategist who asked not to be named.

In another instance, before the reshuffle of the standing committees last year, a large section of the party was of the opinion that one of the three standing committee chairmen of the Congress, a senior leader should be removed. Ultimately Gandhi decided otherwise and allowed the veteran continue. The three standing committee chairmen from the Congress are Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh.

On January 28, Sonia didn’t forget to reach out to Manish Tewari in the January 28 meeting. “How’s your mood Manish?” Gandhi asked with a smile, the people cited above said. Tewari, who is believed to be not entirely happy with the party affairs in Punjab smiled and replied: “I am absolutely fine, ma’am.”