Ahead of CWC meet, Gehlot denies rumours of being offered Congress chief post

Even as the Congress prepares to elect its next President at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Sunday, Rajasthan Chief Minister on Wednesday denied speculations that he has been offered the post by party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi.

“I’m hearing this from the media. I don’t know about this. I’m fulfilling duties that have been assigned to me,” Gehlot told reporters.

A well-known daily on Tuesday reported that Sonia had met Gehlot and urged him to be the next Congress president.

The CWC, the party’s highest decision-making body, will hold a virtual meeting on Sunday to approve the exact schedule of dates for the election of the Congress president.

The party has to elect its next president by September 20.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will preside over the CWC meeting.

“A virtual meeting of the CWC will be held on the 28th August, 2022 at 3:30 PM, to approve the exact schedule of dates for the election of the Congress president. Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi will preside over the CWC meeting,” Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said on Twitter.

The Congress president will join the meeting virtually from abroad as she is travelling for medical check-ups. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are also accompanying her.

Despite Rahul’s refusal to become the party chief and insistence on the election of a non-Gandhi, there have been several calls by leaders publicly exhorting him to become the president again.

Earlier this week, Gehlot had said that Rahul should reconsider his decision, respecting the sentiments of the “common Congress people in the country.”

Rahul had resigned as Congress president after the party suffered its second consecutive defeat in parliamentary elections in 2019.

Sonia Gandhi who took over the reins of the party again as interim president had also offered to quit in August 2020 after an open revolt by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue.

(With inputs from agencies)