Congress cadres are lamenting that Sonia Gandhi abdicated her authority to vice president Rahul Gandhi, who, in turn, “in his wisdom, abdicated his authority to non-political players”.



Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports

If growing voices of dissent in the Congress are any indication, party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi seem to have lost grip over the organisation.

Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party last Saturday, Sonia had urged MPs not to bicker in public and instead communicate their feedback about the party’s strengths and weaknesses to her.

Despite the Congress president’s clear message to avoid public acrimony, the blame game in the party continues with Rahul emerging as the prime target of attack.



Discontentment in the Congress over its worst-ever electoral performance is so deep-seated and widespread that even the fear of punishment has not deterred partymen from speaking up.

“This is the first time that the party leadership has come in for such strong criticism so publicly,” a senior Congress functionary told rediff.com.



Under normal circumstances, a word from party president would be enough to ensure there was no public display of dissent; but not any more.



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