Congress rewrites its rules

The Congress today made two key amendments in its Constitution to enable Manmohan Singh head a Congress-led coalition at the Centre, while unanimously electing Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson of the Parliamentary Party.

The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), which met this evening, adopted the amendments in clause five of the Constitution, under which there would be a party chairperson in Parliament who would be elected by party members in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, party spokesman S Jaipal Reddy said.

Under the sub-clauses inserted in the clause, the chairperson would nominate two leaders of the party""one each for both houses, apart from deputy leaders and whips from amongst the members of the respective houses.

"The chairperson shall have the authority to name the leader of CPP to head the government, if necessary", Reddy said.

The amendments were proposed by senior party leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister AR Antulay and seconded by veteran leader Arjun Singh.

The new provision enabled the unanimous election of Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson, who named Manmohan Singh for the Prime Minister's post.

While Gandhi's name as chairperson was proposed by Pranab Mukherjee, it was seconded by K Karunakaran.

A resolution was also adopted by the CPP authorising Gandhi to nominate the CPP leader, Reddy said. The proposal was moved by G Venkataswami and seconded by MS Gill.

Addressing the meeting, Gandhi said she was not going away and intended to "discharge my responsibilities as a member of Parliament, as a chairperson of CPP and, above all, as Congress President as long as you all want me to.

"We live in times when politics is all about power. But let the world know that the Indian National Congress cherishes the values and integrity above everything else", she said.

In her one-and-a-half page statement, Gandhi appealed to the partymen to support the new Congress Prime Minister.

"I urge you to support the Congress Prime Minister. And I request you to give your full support to the new Cabinet. The Congress party is overflowing with talent. Let us give India the government it deserves," she said.

"You all have placed your trust in me and have authorised me to name a new leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. I am happy to ask Dr Manmohan Singh to take on this great responsibility", she said.

"I am confident that we will together work to build the 21st century India that was Rajivji's vision".

Rejecting fresh appeals by top Congress leaders to change her mind, she asked Congressmen to understand the "depth" of her sentiment behind the refusal to accept prime ministership, but made it clear she was "still very much in politics".

Gandhi said she was overwhelmed by the love of Congressmen "but now we must get on with the serious business of undoing the damage done by the last government, and of working to create the India of our dreams.

Speaking for herself, Gandhi said: "I will always be here, working for the party. The Congress is my life. All of you are my family. I am one of you and nothing will ever change that."