But the dominant view among senior leaders has always been against internal elections. Two famous Congress sessions when CWC elections were conducted, hailed by academics as signposts of internal democracy, are cited by party leaders to show how manoeuvering overrode democracy. The members resigned but fierce bargaining and blackmail behind the scenes forced Rao to agree that all the elected members would be re-nominated. While elected members like Arjun, Pawar, Jitendra Prasada, A.K. Kesri was forced to sing a conciliatory tune but his position became shaky as the seeds of distrust were sown in the minds of senior leaders.

Source: The Telegraph February 25, 2018 23:03 UTC