Sonia Gandhi to stay as India's Congress leader for now amid party turmoil

Sonia Gandhi has agreed to stay on as interim president of India’s opposition Congress party for now, after earlier calling for a successor to be elected.

Ms Gandhi had said she would step down in the wake of a letter written by dissidents calling for sweeping reform.

Following a seven-hour meeting of top officials, she agreed to stay on temporarily, with the party working to elect a new leader within six months.

Congress ruled the country for decades, but has recently been routed in polls.

This has led to sharp criticism of its leadership, which has long favoured the Gandhi family.

The party was removed from power by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014, managing to win just 44 seats in the 543-member house. That was the beginning of a massive decline which also saw it lose control of a number of states where it held power.

The 2019 election did not see a revival of its fortunes. In fact, many political observers say, it cemented just how unpopular the Congress – known as India’s grand old party – had become with voters.

It is now in power in just six Indian states – in four of those, it governs as a member of a coalition.

Analysts and political commentators have attributed much of the blame to lacklustre leadership and the inability of the party to look beyond the Gandhi family. One member or another has been at the helm since India won independence from the UK in 1947.

After Monday’s marathon meeting in Delhi, Ms Gandhi said: “Congress is one big family and I don’t hold anything against anyone. But all, especially senior leaders should raise concerns at the party forum only.”

NDTV quoted her as saying: “I am hurt but they are my colleagues, bygones are bygones, let us work together.”

Political observers say that it has exposed a long-running battle between older and younger members of the party.

The letter was reportedly written last week but became public on Sunday, when it was published in the Indian Express newspaper.

In it, the leaders call for various reforms including an “independent election authority” and an “institutional leadership mechanism to guide the party’s revival”. Signatories include former ministers Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Gulam Nabi Azad and Manish Tewari.

Ms Gandhi reacted swiftly, and called for a new party president to be elected.

She was full president for nearly 20 years, but took the post on again in an interim role a year ago after her son, Rahul, stepped down following the 2019 election loss.

On Monday, the Congress party’s highest decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee, decided to form a committee that would aid Ms Gandhi in the party’s day-to-day operations.

The party will also meet again within six months to detail the election of a new leader.