CWC Names Sonia Gandhi As Interim Congress president

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was on Saturday elected interim president of the Congress party. She held this position for 19 years before handing over charge to her son Rahul Gandhi in 2017.

Sonia Gandhi waves hands towards her supporters. Photo: Getty Images

NEW DELHI: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was on Saturday elected interim president of the Congress party. She held this position for 19 years before handing over charge to her son Rahul Gandhi in 2017. The announcement was made Saturday night after Congress Working Committee (CWC) accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation during its second meeting of the day. During the process of consultation with state PCC chiefs, Congress legislature party leaders and party MPs, there was a consensus on Rahul Gandhi continuing as party chief. However, Gandhi asserted that he would not take back his resignation, after CWC members unanimously urged him to reconsider. The CWC then decided to name Sonia Gandhi as the interim party chief till the time it elects the regular Congress president. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met in the evening after its two-hour meeting in the morning. Five sub-groups were formed region-wise to choose a successor to Rahul Gandhi in unison came up with his name. There was a clamour across all the sub-groups for Rahul Gandhi to be made President again, though he was not keen to take up the responsibility of a party fighting a political downslide. During the wider consultation process, only a few suggested other names while a majority of them said the party will face desertions if Rahul Gandhi does not remain the leader. Some even told Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to prevail upon Rahul to reconsider his May 25 resignation. At 11 am, the Congress' top brass, including ex-prime minister Manmohan Singh, party general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and P Chidambaram, went into a huddle at the All India Congress Committee headquarters here. The CWC decided to have consultations with leaders from across the country and it was divided into five groups for different regions -- northeast, east, north, west and south. The CWC group for the northeast region included top party leaders such as Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat. The group for eastern region included AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, ex-Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi and former Union minister Kumari Selja. The northern region group included Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jyotiraditya Scindia and P Chidambaram. The western region group was has leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, A K Antony and Motilal Vora. The group for the southern region included Manmohan Singh, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his deputy Sachin Pilot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy were also part of the consultation process. (With inputs from agencies)