Sonia Gandhi will be the President: Decision in the meeting of the Congress Working Committee

(PTI) New Delhi, Ta. Monday, August 24, 2020

A virtual meeting of the Congress Working Committee was held. After a seven-hour meeting, the decision to keep Sonia Gandhi as president was taken unanimously. After 23 senior leaders wrote a letter demanding a change of leadership in the Congress, Sonia Gandhi offered to resign by proposing a new president.

As many as 23 senior Congress leaders wrote a letter proposing to appoint a permanent and active party president instead of an acting president. Acting President Sonia Gandhi then offered to resign, proposing to elect a new president. A virtual meeting of the Congress Working Committee was held after the letter demanding a change of leadership.

A seven-hour working committee meeting decided to retain Sonia Gandhi as president. Leaders close to the Gandhi family expressed displeasure over the letter. Rahul Gandhi also raised questions about the timing of the letter.

Reports citing sources claimed that Rahul Gandhi had questioned why the letter was written while Sonia Gandhi was in hospital. Should this issue be discussed in the Congress Working Committee or in the media? That question was also asked by the former Congress president.

When the meeting started, Sonia Gandhi asked the members to relieve them of their responsibilities by appointing a new party president. But members urged Sonia Gandhi to remain in office.

Senior leaders, including former PM Manmohan Singh and senior leader AK Antony, urged Sonia Gandhi to remain active as president. Citing sources close to the Congress, it was said that many of the senior leaders who had written the letter demanding a change of leadership had expressed a completely different view at the Congress Working Committee meeting and said they had full confidence in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Sibal-Azad Versus Rahul Gandhi

During the working committee meeting, sources were quoted as saying that Rahul Gandhi had expressed displeasure and said that the leaders who had written the letter had links with the BJP. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal immediately responded to the claim by tweeting. Sibal wrote: Rahul Gandhi accused that we have nexus with BJP. Defended the Congress party in the Rajasthan High Court, fought against the BJP government in Manipur. Although we have not made a single statement in favor of the BJP in 30 years, we are said to be in cahoots with the BJP. However, Kapil Sibal deleted the tweet and retweeted it, saying: "After talking to Rahul Gandhi, I came to know that he has not made a statement to us that he has links with the BJP." That's why I'm withdrawing my old tweet. Rajya Sabha Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also expressed displeasure over Rahul Gandhi's statement. "I will resign if the alliance with the BJP is proved," Azad said.

Gandhi and non-Gandhi: Two parts in the Congress

After the demand for a change of leadership in the Congress, once again there are two groups in the Congress, the supporters of the Gandhi family and the leaders who want to make someone else president instead of the Gandhi family. There are frequent murmurs against Rahul Gandhi's leadership. There is also a demand to hand over the helm of the Congress to Gandhi instead of the Gandhi family. Statements to give the helm to someone other than the Gandhi family have been circulating, but for the first time in many years, 23 senior leaders have sided with the non-Gandhi president, demanding a change of leadership in the party.