New Delhi: In an attempt to silence critics ahead of the crucial 2022 Assembly elections, interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said she is the “full-time and hands-on” party chief.


Sonia Gandhi’s remarks came during her address at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held in New Delhi.


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In her opening remarks at the Congress Working Committee meeting, Sonia Gandhi responded to the concerns raised over party’s leadership saying: “I am, if you will allow me to say so, a full-time and hands-on Congress President....”


Here are some important statements made during the CWC meeting:



  • “I've always appreciated frankness. There is no need to speak to me through the media. So let us all have a free and honest discussion. But what should get communicated outside the four walls of this room is collective decision of CWC”: Sonia Gandhi said, in an apparent reference to G-23 leaders.


  • “The entire organisation wants a revival of the Congress. But this requires unity and keeping the Party’s interests paramount. Above all, it requires self-control and discipline. I am acutely conscious of the fact that I have been interim Congress President ever since the CWC asked me to return in this capacity in 2019,” she noted.


  • “I am, if you will allow me to say so, a full-time and hands-on Congress President. In the last two years, a large number of our colleagues, particularly the younger ones have taken on leadership roles in taking party policies and programmes to the people--whether it be the agitation of farmers, provision of relief during the pandemic, highlighting issues of concern to youth and women, atrocities on Dalits, Adivasis and minorities, price rise, and the destruction of the public sector," Sonia Gandhi said.


  • “Economy continues to be a cause of great concern in spite of government propaganda to make us believe that it’s not. As we all know, the only answer government seems to have for economic recovery is selling off national assets built with great efforts over decades”: Congress interim president said, as mentioned in a statement shared by Congress.


  • Hitting at BJP over Lakhimpur Kheri violence, Sonia Gandhi said: “The shocking incidents at Lakhimpur Kheri recently betrays the mindset of BJP, how it perceives Kisan Andolan, how it has been dealing with this determined struggle by Kisans to protect their lives and livelihoods”.


  • Talking about the upcoming assembly elections, she said that “preparations had already begun a while back and doubtedly we face many challenges but if we are united if we are disciplined and if we focus on the parties interest alone, I am confident that we will do well. The respective general secretaries and incharges will be briefing us on the states individually”.





  • Meanwhile, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad during CWC meeting said: “We have full faith in Sonia Gandhi ji and nobody is questioning her leadership”, news agency ANI cited sources as reporting.


  • Sonia Gandhi also levelled allegations against the Modi government over its foreign policy as she said: “There has been a broad consensus on foreign and neighbourhood policy in our country. But that consensus has been damaged because of the Prime Minister’s continued reluctance to take the opposition into confidence in any meaningful manner”.

    “Foreign policy has become a diabolical instrument of electoral mobilization and polarization. We face serious challenges on our borders and on other fronts. The Prime Minister telling the opposition leaders last year that there had not been any occupation of a territory by China and his silence ever since is costing our nation dearly,” she alleged.


  • About the recent targetted killings in Jammu & Kashmir, she said that “minorities clearly have been targeted", and added, “this must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.” “Jammu and Kashmir has been a Union Territory for two years. The entire responsibility for bringing the perpetrators of these barbaric crimes to justice is that of the Union government. Restoring social peace and harmony and confidence amongst the people in Jammu and Kashmir rests with the Modi government too,” she added.


  • Meanwhile, according to sources, the Congress party’s organisation election process can begin from November 1. The party is likely to get a new president by October next year. As per sources, internal elections are scheduled to be held in 2022.


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Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress chief ministers Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh and Charanjit Channi of Punjab attended the meeting at All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in the national capital.


G-23 leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma were also among those present, news agency PTI reported.


The meeting is being seen as a significant development in terms of addressing the party’s internal issues as G-23 leaders continued to raise concerns about the leadership ahead of the crucial assembly elections slated to take place next year.