Sonia Gandhi, the Congress President, reformed the party’s disciplinary action committee on Thursday, removing senior leader and former Rajya Sabha Leader Ghulam Nabi Azad from the body.
Azad, a member of the CWC, is a member of the G23, which wrote to Sonia demanding major changes to the party’s structure. Former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Mukut Mithi were both removed off the committee by Sonia.
Azad’s removal comes a day after at least 20 J&K Congress leaders thought to be close to him resigned from their seats in the party in order to advocate for a leadership change in the Union Territory. Former ministers G M Saroori, Vikar Rasool, and Dr Manohar Lal Sharma; former legislators Jugal Kishore Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Monga, Naresh Gupta, Mohammad Amin Bhat, and Subash Gupta; State Congress vice-president Anwar Bhat; and Kulgam District Development Council member Anyatullah Rather were among those who were arrested.
AICC general secretary Tariq Anwar will serve as member secretary, and CWC member Ambika Soni, senior Delhi Congress politician Jai Prakash Aggarwal, and Karnataka leader G Parameshwara will serve as members of the new disciplinary action committee, which will once again be led by A K Antony. After the death of one of its members, Motilal Vora, in December of last year, the panel has barely met.
Azad was one of the G23’s most notable members. Kapil Sibal, a vociferous member of the G23, recently sparked a debate when he declared at a press conference that “in our party, there is no president at the present, therefore we don’t know who is taking these decisions.” We both know and don’t know.”
Sonia said she was “a full-time and hands-on Congress president” at a CWC meeting last month, adding that she “always valued frankness” and that there was no need to speak to her “via the media.”
