Congress Meet Today; Bihar Not On Agenda, Say Sources Amid Fresh Sparring

Today's agenda is the signature campaign and there is no other agenda, Congress sources said. (File)

A special committee of the Congress, formed to assist party chief Sonia Gandhi, will meet today, as the party reels under its abysmal performance in Bihar as well as by-elections across the country, party sources said. This is, however, a routine meeting for local administrative issues, Congress sources said.

The meeting will be held at 5 pm via video conferencing.

Today's agenda is the signature campaign and there is no other agenda, and that with the Congress president not present, no real, meaningful discussion can take place on Bihar, according to members of the panel who did not want to come on record.

The election debacle has also brought up a public blow-out among its top leaders after Kapil Sibal's open criticism of the party leadership. Mr Sibal had called for "experienced minds, experienced hands and those who understand political realities" to revive the organisation. He also said the "time for introspection is over".

"... we need to do several things at several levels - organisationally, articulation in the media in whatever form, putting up people who the people want to listen to, providing an active, thoughtful leadership who can articulate with a lot of circumspection," Mr Sibal told the Indian Express newspaper. Congress men, he said, "must recognize that we are in decline".

Rebutting Mr Sibal, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said that there was "no need" for his colleague to mention "internal issues" in the media. In a series of tweets. Mr Gehlot also said that after every electoral loss, the party had shown "undivided and firm belief in the party leadership" and had emerged stronger from each crises.

Mr Sibal was one of the 23 Congress leaders behind the "dissent letter" that caused an all-out clash within the party in August but changed little except for key letter-writers being shunted out. The letter had suggested sweeping changes after the Congress lost power in Madhya Pradesh after a revolt by Jyotiraditya Scindia and barely saved its Rajasthan government after a rebellion.

The special panel of the Congress which is meeting today was formed in August to assist Mrs Gandhi on organisational and operational matters. Ahmed Patel, KC Venugopal, AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Surjewala are its members. Mr Patel, who tested positive for coronavirus, is currently hospitalised in Gurgaon.

In last week's Bihar election results, the opposition won 110 seats, a dozen short of the majority mark in the 243-member assembly. Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) emerged as the largest party but the Congress, which contested 70 seats but won only 19, proved to be a dead weight.