Rahul as Cong chief is now happening: Sonia
NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday said Rahul Gandhi will soon take over the reins of the party.
“You have been asking this for so many years and it’s now happening,” she told NDTV at the function to release former President Pranab Mukherjee’s autobiography, The Coalition Years 1996-2012. Congress sources said Rahul is set to take over as the party chief any time after Diwali.
Majority of the state units, barring poll-bound Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, have completed their organisational elections though without any contest.
Almost all states have passed unanimous resolution in favour of Rahul’s elevation as the next chief. Delhi was the first to do so.
Once the party’s central election authority (CEA), which is overseeing the organisational polls, receives the list of delegates and resolution from the states, the process of electing the new Congress chief will begin.
The CEA members will meet Sonia to apprise her of the completion of organisational polls.
The Congress working committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, will then be called to finalise the dates of filing and withdrawal of nominations for the top post.
Sources said the nomination process could be completed by October 25 and the CWC was likely to meet before Diwali.
Founded on December 28, 1885, Congress is India’s oldest political party. Sonia Gandhi holds the record of being the party chief for more than 19 consecutive years after taking over from Sitaram Kesri in March 1998.