Sonia pressurised to take on LS challenge

The sources say pressure is being brought upon Sonia to lead the party in the Lok Sabha since this would send the signal to the cadre that she was in total control. Nominating any other senior leader, they say, would only give a fillip to dissension and create confusion in the party.

In any case, with Manmohan Singh deciding to quit as the Leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha, Sonia willhave to find his replacement though efforts are still being made to make Singh reconsider his decision.

There may not be any threat from any quarter to the election of Sonia as CPP leader but the sense of uneasiness among her loyalists could be gauged from the fact that five AICC secretaries, including party MPs Mani Shankar Aiyar and Ramesh Chennithala, issued a signed statement on Monday, urging her to take over as the Leader of the party in the Lok Sabha besides assuming responsibility as chairperson of the CPP.

“Sonia is the undisputed leader of the party. Parliament is the forum in which the political battle is joined. The party needs to have her lead from the front,” the statement, also signed by Sudhir Sawant, Mukul Wasnik and Imran Kidwai, said.

A group of Sonia loyalists also met party MP Kamal Nath in the evening, apparently to urge him to “exercise restraint” so as to not embarrass the party (read Sonia) any further.