Sonia Gandhi will remain the interim Congress president till the next president is elected. The development came after a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting which lasted for several hours on Monday.
A session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) will be called soon, probably within six months where future course of action will be decided.
A unanimous decision was taken at CWC meeting that Sonia Gandhi will continue as party chief till the next president is elected, sources said.
The meeting was held after a controversy emerged over a letter by more than 20 senior leaders asking for a full time president and demanding the election of CWC.
As per the press release, the CWC had extensively deliberated on the letters and, after detailed discussion, placed on record the following:
First, the last six months have seen the nation in the throes of multiple crises. “We have been beset by (i) the Corona pandemic that continues to claim thousands of lives, (ii) downward-spiraling economy, (iii) massive job losses and growing poverty, and (iv) brazen aggression into and occupation of Indian territory by the Chinese.” The statement said.
Second, the two voices that have been at the forefront of exposing the Government’s inadequate responses, divisive politics and audacious propaganda are of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The CWC makes it clear that no one will be or can be permitted to undermine or weaken the party and its leadership at this juncture. The responsibility of every Congress worker and leader today is to fight the pernicious assault on India’s democracy, pluralism and diversity by the Modi Government.
Third, and most importantly, the voices of our two leaders have inspired a generation of Indians, both within and outside of the Indian National Congress, to rise and demand answers from this Government which seeks to desperately distract the people through shallow and manufactured issues. It is under their leadership that crores of Congress workers and supporters have reached out to fill the large, callous gaps in governance left by this Government as a result of which millions belonging to the poor and middle classes have been unjustly deprived of their rights and their livelihoods, it said.
Fourthly, the CWC notes that inner-party issues cannot be deliberated through the media or in public fora. The CWC urges and advises all concerned to raise such issues only in party fora in the interest of propriety and discipline, it said.
Fifthly, the CWC authorises the Congress President to affect necessary organisational changes that she may deem appropriate to take on the challenges listed above, it added.
In the light of the above deliberations and conclusions, the CWC unanimously requests Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead the Indian National Congress until such time as circumstances will permit an AICC session to be convened.
