In the first full-length television interview by one of the 23 Congress leaders who in August wrote to Sonia Gandhi suggesting measures that could revive and revitalise the party, Manish Tewari has said that the preliminary response is satisfactory but some of the ideological issues still need to be addressed. He said the fact that elections for a new Congress president are to be held in six months is a good start.
Contradicting speculation to the contrary, Tewari said that all 23 Congress leaders stand by the letter they sent Sonia in early August. He added that substantive sections of their colleagues across the length and breadth of the country share their concern. He said a lot of people have spoken privately to say they agree with them. However, calling the letter “an attempt to flank structural reforms in the party,” Tewari did admit that it “could have been more happily worded”.
In a 53-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Tewari accepted that a template letter expressing support for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi whilst criticising the 23 letter writers has been circulated amongst many Congress Lok Sabha MPs and several had signed it and sent it to Sonia. The Wire has copies of this letter signed by Vincent Pala, Manickam Tagore and Anto Antony. The letter accuses the 23 of “a deliberate attempt at weakening the party”. Tewari would not accept that this letter had been organised by Sonia or her supporters, or that it was an attempt to start a campaign against the 23. But he did accept that several MPs have signed identical letters to the Congress president.
In The Wire interview, Tewari spoke about several of the main points raised in the August letter. These include the need for an effective, visible and full-time leadership, an independent election authority to conduct Congress’s internal elections, election of CWC members, the creation of a Central Parliamentary Board, the need to immediately identify reasons for Congress’s electoral decline and its poor performance in 2014 and 2019, the need to urgently establish ‘an institutional leadership mechanism’ and the need for a sincere effort to bring on one platform leaders of political parties who were once part of the Congress party.
Tewari told The Wire that although the election for a new Congress president to be held in six months would be conducted by a central election authority appointed by Sonia, the call for “an independent election authority comprising senior leaders of standing and credibility…to ensure that elections are free, fair and democratic” is an aspiration and that aspiration remains.
However, Tewari made a point of praising Sonia. He said that she has “led us with great dignity and humility”. He added “she commands widespread respect”.
Tewari told The Wire he hoped that alongside the new party president, CWC members would also be elected in accordance with the constitution of the party. However, he accepted that the recent reconstitution of the CWC by Sonia on the basis of nomination was perfectly in order and refused to accept that this was a snub to the demand made by the 23 for “election of CWC members”.
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Tewari said that the institution of a Central Parliamentary Board was discontinued by either Narasimha Rao or Sitaram Kesri and the body had been replaced by the Central Election Committee. However, he hoped that under a new president the CPB would be re-established.
He continued that there is an urgent need for the party to sit down and identify the reasons for its steady decline particularly in the general elections in 2014 and 2019. He said the A.K. Antony report about the 2014 results has not been discussed and should be.
Tewari explained that the call in the August letter “to urgently establish an institutional leadership mechanism” is perhaps repetitive because the letter writers were actually referring to their separate call for reviving the Central Parliamentary Board.
The Wire asked Tewari whether the appointment of 38-year-old Gaurav Gogoi as the deputy leader in the Lok Sabha was an attempt to sideline Shashi Tharoor and himself and, similarly, whether the appointment of a committee for the smooth functioning of the Rajya Sabha was an attempt to dilute the powers of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma. In response and speaking with great passion and force, Tewari said he was not in the running for any post. He said the letter had not been written to get a position in the party. It was not a negotiating stance. He said every single one of the 23 letter writers was clear about this.
Tewari said that as long as the idea of India which he cherished was pursued and implemented he would be happy to serve under a 13-year-old, if necessary.
