Be aggressive against the Government, is Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s message to her party MPs.
In an informal meeting with party MPs, Sonia Gandhi asked them to aggressively take up in Parliament, issues affecting the common man and try to corner the Narendra Modi Government.
In this context, Sonia compared the performance of MPs in both Houses of Parliament. She asked the lok Sabha MPs to take a cue from the performance of their counterparts in the Upper House, where the Congress MPs have missed no chance to pin down the Government.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too is believed to have admitted that the party needs to perform better in the lok Sabha, where it has been reduced to just 44 seats. He asked the MPs to raise issues of public concern, keeping in view the upcoming Assembly elections in some of the States where the party is already facing political upheaval.
A section in the Congress believes that confusion over the loP issue is one of the major factors responsible for the party’s sedate performance in the lok Sabha. Nearly two months after the Modi Government came to power, the Congress is still struggling to get loP status in lok Sabha.
A senior Rajya Sabha member said the party is determined to pay the BJP back in its own coin.
“We are determined to stall the proceedings on any issue. For three years, they (BJP) did not allow us to function. Now, we will latch on to any issue to create trouble for the Government,” he told The Pioneer.
After the lok Sabha poll debacle, the Congress leadership has been facing crisis after crisis, with the latest being rebellions in most of the Congress-ruled States. While the Maharashtra crisis is likely to reach Sonia’s durbar shortly, Rahul told reporters on Tuesday that the deadlock in Assam is an “internal matter of the party.”
A day after Narayan Rane quit the Maharashtra Cabinet, efforts to persuade him to take back his resignation failed and he has demanded immediate intervention of the party high command.
Coming just two months after the Congress’ drubbing in the lok Sabha elections, the developments in these poll-bound States have raised questions about the strategy the Congress high command and Rahul propose to adopt to stem dissidence.
Significantly on Tuesday, Rahul chose not to speak about the resignation of Hemanta Biswa Sarma from Tarun Gogoi’s Cabinet, saying it was an internal matter of the party and that he would comment on the issue only in the party forum.
Sarma submitted his resignation claiming support of 38 MlAs and expressed lack of confidence in Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
AICC spokesperson and a Minister in Haryana, Randeep Surjewala dismissed remarks by a rebel leader Birender Singh that he would not contest Assembly polls under the leadership of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
“The general secretary in-charge of AICC has already clarified that the upcoming elections for the Haryana Assembly will be fought under Hooda’s leadership. Birender Singh is a Rajya Sabha member and if and when he expresses an interest in contesting polls, an appropriate decision will be taken by the leadership,” Surjewala said.