Margaret Alva's book is a scathing criticism of Sonia Gandhi's leadership

New Delhi, 15 July,2016: In 2014, the Congress party touched a historic low, winning a mere 44 seats in the general elections, making way for the Narendra Modi-led BJP to form a government with a thumping majority. The decline, though, wasn't sudden. It was steady, and many had internally portended the bleak scenario that the grand old party finds itself in. Courage and Commitment,a book by Margaret Alva, a fierce Gandhi family loyalist-turned-Sonia critic, reinforces what has always been said by political pundits - that the Congress high command needs to come out of the comforts of its coterie, and connect with the grassroot worker. Alva's book offers an amazing insight into the maneuverings of 10 Janpath - the home of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Without being too harsh, Alva clearly indicts Gandhi for lacking transparency in her manner of functioning, her penchant for surrounding herself with a handful of loyalists, and for forgetting promises made to people who have been useful to her. Alva reproduces in the book a letter she had written when she was asked to resign from the post of All India Congress Committee General Secretary, sometime in 2009. This was following her outburst in the media about the unfair manner in which tickets were distributed in Karnataka. She writes: "Times have changed and for the first time I have come to feel like a misfit in an organisation that I considered as precious as my own home. A look at our recent candidates lists show a distinct pattern of patronages to the wealthy and rich lobbies like mining, education and real-estate... It is hard to function through intermediaries because we never seem to know when and which message is yours and what you want done. I have now come to realise that I am out of tune with the decision-makers around you." She further writes about how a call from Sonia lasting a few seconds sealed her fate, and marked her exit from Delhi, something she claimed her opponents within the party wanted all along. She was made the Governor of Uttarakhand, without her consent. CatchNews