News analysis | With series of moves, Sonia Gandhi asserts herself as Congress chief 

Sonia Gandhi has been making a visible attempt to silence detractors calling for change in leadership

In a visible attempt to silence detractors calling for a change in leadership after the party’s dismal performance in the recently concluded Assembly elections in five States, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is making her presence felt by taking the centre stage.

From temporarily diffusing the rebellion of G-23 leaders pushing for reforms to sacking five Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs, including Navjot Singh Sidhu in Punjab, Ms. Gandhi has been clearly asserting herself in the past 10 days. She has involved herself directly in every decision no matter how minor the issue. 

“She is clearly trying to control the narrative and assert that she alone is the centre of authority in the party,” said a senior leader who did not wish to be named. 

“Equally, it is aimed at protecting the Gandhi family’s control over the party. It is obvious that if she is actively taking interest in the minute functioning of the party, the detractors will be left with little to say,” the leader added

The Parliamentary party office of the Congress is a busy place these days, with Ms. Gandhi’s regular presence. On March 16, she held a meeting with Punjab MPs, listening intently to their analysis on the reasons for the Congress’s debacle in the State.

She followed it up with a meeting of Kerala MPs to sort out a controversy between Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor and his colleagues in Kerala. Ms. Gandhi told Mr. Tharoor in no uncertain terms not to to attend a seminar organised by the CPI(M), on the sidelines of its party congress between April 6 and 10, as the Kerala unit did not want him to.

The Congress chief prevented Mr. Tharoor from attending after taking direct feedback from Kerala MPs, many of whom she met individually.