However, Sonia’s decision to step down was accepted by all. She has asked Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal to convene an All India Congress Committee (AICC) session to choose a new president.

The CWC meeting saw Gandhi family loyalists and the rebel camp (consisting of 23 senior leaders who had expressed the need for the party’s democratic overhaul in a letter to Sonia Gandhi) attacking each other in the morning. One of the signatories of the letter, Kapil Sibal, alleged that Rahul Gandhi accused the 23 leaders of “colluding with the BJP”. However, he later withdrew his tweet, clarifying that Rahul Gandhi called him personally to say that he had not said anything like that. 

A second note of discord came to the fore when another rebel leader Ghulam Nabi Azad offered to resign if allegations made by some Congress leaders outside the CWC, that the letter was written at the behest of or in collusion with the BJP are proven to be true.

Rahul Gandhi and his aides were also reported to have attacked the 23 leaders for having written a letter to Sonia Gandhi at a time (August 7) when the Congress was in the middle of a crisis after Sachin Pilot had revolted against the Ashok Gehlot government. Rahul is also believed to have taken offence at the aggressive posturing by the rebel leaders when they knew that the Congress president was unwell.  

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former defence minister A.K. Antony are also said to have backed Sonia Gandhi at that juncture. They reportedly said the dissenting letter was ill-timed and expressed faith in Sonia’s leadership.

However, after attacks and counter-attacks, the CWC appears to have seen a truce struck between the two camps. At least a unanimous resolution that was passed at the end of the meeting indicated so. 

Addressing a press conference, Venugopal said that the meeting was attended by around 52 leaders, including all the CWC  members, special and permanent invitees, and four chief ministers. “All of them spoke in the seven hour long meeting, following which the CWC passed an unanimous resolution,” he said. 

The resolution clearly reads like an attempt to placate both the camps. While it talks about the leading role played by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in foregrounding livelihood issues during the coronavirus pandemic, thereby apparently succeeding in shaming the government, it also speaks about convening an AICC session to choose a new president and imminent organisational reworkings. 

The CWC reportedly also agreed to form a committee to assist Sonia to address the concerns raised by the 23 leaders in the days to come. “The CWC authorises the Congress President to affect necessary organisational changes that she may deem appropriate to take on the challenges…,” read one of the points of the resolution. 

As far as the letter is concerned, it is unlikely that any disciplinary action will be taken against the 23 leaders for discussing their concerns in the public domain. Randeep Surjewala, the chief spokesperson of the party, made it clear at the press conference that Sonia Gandhi in her concluding remarks categorically said that she has never held anything against her critics for the sake of the party, and that she will continue to do so even this time as disagreements and discussions are not new in the “Congress family”.

However, in what can be read as a veiled warning to the rebels, the resolution made a point to say, “The CWC notes that inner-party issues can not be deliberated through the media or in public fora. The CWC urges and advises all concerned to raise such issues only in party fora in the interest of propriety and discipline.”

However, the resolution also notes that all the concerns raised in the letter will be immediately addressed and a new party president will be chosen in an AICC session. Venugopal, too, said that the AICC session will be conducted as soon as possible and when the situation permits, given the coronavirus lockdown restrictions are still in place.

Sonia emphasised that this was a time when the party should fight to expose “the government’s inadequate responses, divisive politics and audacious propaganda”. The CWC resolution also spoke about the pandemic that has hurt livelihoods of millions of people, the “downward-spiralling economy” and Chinese occupation of Indian territory in Ladakh. 

Defending Sonia and Rahul, the resolution read, “…the two voices that have been at the forefront of exposing the Government’s inadequate responses, divisive politics and audacious propaganda are Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri. Rahul Gandhi.” It claimed that Sonia ensured that Congress-ruled states handled the pandemic much more effectively than those ruled by the BJP. It also added that Rahul led the fight against the Union government from the front during the lockdown. 

“The CWC makes it clear that no one will be or can be permitted to undermine or weaken the party and its leadership at this juncture. The responsibility of every Congress worker and leader today is to fight the pernicious assault on India’s democracy, pluralism and diversity by the Modi government,” the resolution says.