New Delhi, April 24: Panic gripped the Congress organisation and the Union cabinet as talk of a rejig swept through the party, sparking rumours of intrigue that have often dogged the country’s oldest political party.
Reports suggested that at least four senior ministers — Jairam Ramesh, Salman Khurshid, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Vayalar Ravi — had offered to quit the government and work for the party. Azad is already AICC general secretary.
As the news dominated political discourse in the national capital, the government, the party and the ministers concerned denied there was any offer to resign.
Some leaders saw a mischief in the reports as the details were not completely fictional.
Law minister Khurshid had written to Sonia Gandhi soon after the Uttar Pradesh results, offering to take moral responsibility for the failure to deliver in the elections and resign as minister. There was a demand from some sections of the party to sack the ministers from UP after the debacle. Ravi, minister for overseas affairs, denied having written any such letter and said he was happy in the job he was doing. Ravi in fact had expressed his readiness to work for the party over a year ago.
Health minister Azad too had written to Sonia a year ago to relieve him of his dual responsibility as he was both AICC general secretary and a cabinet minister.
Rural development minister Ramesh, who had quit the government in 2008 to serve the party before the 2009 general elections, keeps writing to Sonia on the organisational weaknesses and his readiness to take up some responsibility.
There are many other ministers who have written similar letters to Sonia time and again. One Cabinet minister told The Telegraph on condition of anonymity: “I too expressed my desire to work for the party. This is ritualistic if you point out the problems in the organisation. We also do this to reaffirm our faith in her leadership and show that we remained more loyal to her than Manmohan Singh. But nobody wants to quit the government.”
Ravi, who was shocked to receive the news about his resignation offer, said: “I met the Congress president with regard to the Andhra Pradesh byelections and never wrote any letter. I am very happy doing my work and will continue. I have been sent to different states at different times. This time I was asked to look into Andhra Pradesh for the bypolls and I went there for a few days.”
Sources close to Khurshid said he too was happy to continue as law minister.
Information & broadcasting minister Ambika Soni’s reaction gave an insight into what Congress leaders were thinking. She told The Telegraph: “Making appointments in party or government is the party president’s prerogative. Every one of us will feel honoured and proud if Soniaji reposes faith in us for a particular job. We will not take even a minute in resigning from the Cabinet to take up party work if Soniaji wants.” She took care to add: “I have also told her that I prefer to work for the party than the government.”
Asked about the “event” that caused the speculation, suggesting that four senior ministers had offered to resign, the I&B minister who is supposed to brief the media on government-related developments, said: “I am not aware. Changes in organisation and the government are an ongoing process. The party president and the Prime Minister take decisions on the basis of requirements to place the right man for the right job. But I don’t know about resignation offers.”
Some senior leaders in the party were more curious about the genesis of the story. One AICC functionary said: “Some creative mind has used information stored in his or her mind for the last many months to generate sensation.” Another leader suspected the hand of one minister who feared his exit.
