Election for new Congress president to be held on Oct 17
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Sunday said the election of its new president will be held on October 17 and counting of votes will be done two days later, on October 19. The filing of nominations will begin on September 24 and the last date is September 30.
The election will be notified on September 22 and candidates can withdraw their nominations by October 8.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi joined the CWC meeting virtually as she is travelling abroad for health check-ups.
Focus on price rise
The CWC reiterated that it has resolved to make the “Mehangai Par Halla Bol” rally in Delhi on September 4 and the launch of the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari on September 7, “a resounding success”.
The meeting came days after an explosive resignation letter by Ghulam Nabi Azad blasting Rahul Gandhi for “childish behaviour”, “glaring immaturity” and for letting a “coterie of inexperienced sycophants” run the party.
High-profile exits
The Congress, dealing with the fallout of a series of high-profile exits, including that of Kapil Sibal and Ashwani Kumar, has attempted to deflect the latest blow by alleging that Azad’s DNA had been “Modi-fied” and linking his resignation to the end of his Rajya Sabha tenure.
The Congress had announced in October last year that the election of the new party president will be held between August 21 and September 20 this year.
There have been several calls by leaders publicly exhorting Rahul Gandhi to become party chief again but uncertainty and suspense continue to loom over the party’s presidency conundrum.
Also watch: Ghulam Nabi Azad quits Congress, rips Rahul
Rahul Gandhi 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
