Congress to pick party chief at tomorrow's CWC meet
In a possible conclusion to the leadership crisis of the Indian National Congress, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, scheduled to be held on Saturday, will pick a new party chief, sources said. For over two months, the party has been flailing without a Congress president, since Rahul Gandhi resigned from his post on May 25. Here are more details.
CWC meet scheduled at AICC headquarters at 11 am
The CWC meeting is scheduled to be held at 11 am at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, New Delhi. Sources told NDTV that the CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, will pick a party chief tomorrow. Ahead of Saturday's meet, Congress leaders AK Antony, Ahmed Patel and KV Venugopal, et.al., met at Sonia Gandhi's home on Friday, the report stated.
'Congress President must be selected. Slightest delay not an option'
Ahead of the meeting, senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi tweeted, "On Sat, a consensus builder party pres #INC must be selected. Slightest delay is not an option." Singhvi added, "In lighter vein, I gave analogy of wise men of #Vatican locked in a room indefinitely until they got a nomination! Subsequently, it has to be followed by full intra party elections."
RaGa said party president wouldn't be Nehru-Gandhi family member
Gandhi has clarified that this time around, the party chief post will not be held by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, for the first time in two decades. Throughout the 134-year history of the party, the Congress president is mostly from the Nehru-Gandhi family.
These are the likely candidates for the Congress President post
Reportedly, the party is likely to pick Mukul Wasnik (59) to fill in Rahul Gandhi's shoes. However, many agreed with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh when he rooted for a young leader. The names of Sachin Pilot, deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, general secretary of Congress, have also popped-up. Meanwhile, senior leader Shashi Tharoor urged to elect an interim president.
Wasnik to be chief 'at least till organizational elections': Sources
However, according to NDTV, Wasnik is likely to be chief "at least till the organizational elections." Wasnik has previously served as a minister in the governments of PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. He has also served as party general secretary under Sonia Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi resigned after party's embarrassing general election performance
Gandhi had resigned on May 25 during a closed-door CWC meeting, taking responsibility for the party's embarrassing defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress won a meager 52 out of 542 assembly seats. Although his resignation was initially unanimously rejected, on July 3, Gandhi publicly announced that he wouldn't continue as party chief and the Congress must urgently pick his successor.
