Internal differences from mild to extreme forms are nothing new in the Congress and there have been countless instances of their eruptions both in very recent as well as distant past. But, the news that as many as 23 senior Congress leaders comprising five former CMs, more than a dozen of former Union Ministers and erstwhile PCC Presidents appealing for a major overhaul across the length and breadth of the party through a letter, is unprecedented in its contemporary history. Meanwhile, by late Sunday evening another major development took place which foretells it might be almost certain that Sonia Gandhi is going to step down as the party’s interim President. The above two developments ahead of the CWC meeting on Monday have made it most-interesting as the outcome there will not only shape the future of the grand old party, but also will indicate in which direction opposition politics in the country is heading for. Apparently, even if it appears that a joint plea of this urgent kind calling for ‘sweeping rectifications’ is rather rare in Congress culture, there was no alternative left perhaps, since, during the last six years, the fall has been precipitous which will count above even the most-rough patches the party has seen since independence.

The demands contained in the letter, reportedly sent a fortnight ago that called for major reforms, decentralisation of power, empowerment of state units and elections at all organisational levels of the party and above all a full-time central leadership are nothing new and had been in a dormant state. But, it’s certainly due to the rise and rise of the ruling dispensation which has been made more easier due to the unmatched inertia in Congress in throwing a challenge, the distress has been so severe and ubiquitous right from top to bottom of its organisational machinery. The resulting hopelessness has escalated after the unceremonious exit of Rahul Gandhi from the post of President in early July 2019 after LS election defeat and by now it must be a hard realisation that for a big ship like Congress, the system of an ad hoc Presidentship is completely unfeasible. It will also not escape attention that this time the ‘clarion call’ has come jointly from the party’s veterans as well as young turks which reflects the urgency of reforms and will stand out as a rare example at a time when the tussle between the ‘young’ and the ‘old’ is at an all-time high.

It's not without reason that the revival of Congress has been termed as “a national imperative” in the appeal. In the broader national context, especially under current circumstances, it’s really so. For a turnaround, the party, besides initiating a major restructuring, must have a full-time leader. It needs to be seen if the CWC meeting delivers the desperately-needed one.