Congress at crossroads: Can letter-politics save the party?

Without an organisation, even if the party develops a political counter-narrative, without new energy and new leaders at the grassroots, there would be no one to carry it to the people

The Congress party has been shirking the two most important challenges before it: election of a full-time president and resolving factional disputes in the states.

The letter from 23 Congressmen to Sonia Gandhi, leaked to the media on the eve of a crucial Congress Working Committee meeting, suggests that the rot is deeper than imagined. Although packaged as an agenda for organisational reform, the letter indicates that the signatories -- and perhaps others -- have lost faith in the Gandhi family’s leadership. They suggest setting up a “collective leadership” where the family will have a seat along with others.

However