Cong to elect party president by June 2021
NEW DELHI: The Congress will have an elected president by June 2021, with the party’s working committee on Friday approving holding the internal election after the assembly polls. The committee, after a three-and-a-half hour meeting authorised Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal election after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states. Sources said the Central Election Authority has proposed the holding of polls for electing the party president and AICC session on May 29 and dates were discussed.
NEW DELHI: The Congress party will have an elected president by June 2021, with the party’s working committee on Friday approving holding the internal election after the assembly polls.
The committee after a three and a half hour meeting authorised incumbent party chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal election after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states.
Addressing a joint press conference, Congress leaders K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala said elections to the CWC will also be held but it remains to be seen whether they can be scheduled before or after the election to the Congress chief’s post. Sources said the Central Election Authority has proposed the holding of polls for electing the party president and AICC session on May 29 and the working committee discussed the dates, but authorised Sonia Gandhi to schedule them after the assembly polls.
The CWC passed three resolutions demanding a repeal of the three agriculture laws, a time-bound JPC probe into the alleged violations of national security and Official Secrets Act and another to ensure that the government ensures free timebound COVID-19 vaccination for the poor and oppressed sections.
“The CWC decided that there will be an elected Congress President by June 2021 at any cost,” AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said. He said the little change of schedule depending on the state elections will be decided soon. “The CWC discussed the schedule of Congress president’s elections in May-end, proposed by its election authority. All CWC members unanimously requested Congress president that the internal elections should not interfere with the assembly elections.” He said the Congress president was requested unanimously to reschedule AICC Plenary Session to the end of June 2021 and the Congress chief’s election would be concluded by June 2021.
The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body of the grand old party, passed a resolution to this effect. The CWC, chaired by Sonia Gandhi earlier discussed the issue along with that of the farmers’ agitation and the COVID-19 vaccination drive and passed three resolutions on each of them.
In another resolution, the CWC demanded that the Centre immediately repeals the three ‘anti-agri’ laws, against which the farmers have launched an agitation for the last over 50 days. The CWC noted that these three laws impinge upon the constitutional rights of states and constitute the first step in dismantling the three pillars of the edifice of food security built up over the past decades.