The Congress’s top decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), met in Delhi on Saturday and began deliberations on finding Rahul Gandhi’s successor as the party president.
The party’s top leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, went into a huddle at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi to find a solution to the leadership crisis triggered by Rahul Gandhi’s resignation following the Lok Sabha polls debacle.
According to the sources, the Congress leaders have divided themselves into five groups to hold discussions for picking Rahul Gandhi’s successor.
The sources also revealed that both Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi won’t be part of the deliberations to elect the party president as the two have left the meeting after the CWC set up five groups for discussions with state unit leaders according to regions.
After leaving the meeting, Sonia Gandhi said we(She and Rahul Gandhi) will not be a part of the consultation process(to decide next party chief) and that is why we are leaving. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, however, stayed on as she is a general secretary in the party.
Amid the crucial Congress Working Committee meeting, scores of Congress workers protested outside the party headquarters demanding Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be made the party president. Jagdish Sharma, the worker who led the protesters said, “Priyanka Gandhi should be made the party chief as she has the capability to keep the party together.”
After the end of Congress Working Committee(CWC) meeting, Adhir Ranjan said, “We will meet again at 8.30 pm, it [name of new party chief] is expected to be finalised by 9 pm today itself.”
Meanwhile, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that CWC has also argued that Rahul Gandhi is the best person to lead Congress when government attacking institutions, but he refused by saying that he will fight with workers.
He further added that Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as Congress chief still under consideration, CWC to take the decision in the evening.
However, the three names of frontrunners for the Congress president’s post emerge- Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Mukul Wasnik. The party now hopes to resolve the leadership issue and move forward quickly with assembly elections coming up in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Haryana.
