Sonia to stay Cong president till election of new party chief
nNEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday sought to set at rest speculation over an extension of the tenure of Sonia Gandhi as the party’s interim chief beyond Monday, August 10, saying she will continue to occupy the post until the process of electing a new president is completed.
A Congress functionary said an extension was a technical requirement under the party’s constitution given that a regular president is yet to be elected. The party also has to inform the Election Commission of its decision.
The party has maintained that the process of electing a new president could not be initiated because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown enforced on March 25 to contain its spread. “Soon after her appointment, there were polls in Maharashtra and Haryana in October-november last year followed by polls in Jharkhand and Delhi. Then the Covid-19 struck,” added the party functionary.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) named Sonia Gandhi as the party’s interim chief on August 10 last year after Rahul Gandhi refused to take back the resignation he tendered in May after the party’s rout in the Lok Sabha elections .
The CWC has powers to appoint a provisional president pending the election of a regular president by the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the party’s central unit comprising around 2,000 members from across the country. “Just like nature abhors a vacuum, political parties cannot function in a vacuum. It is true that the tenure is expiring tomorrow (Monday). There is a laid down procedure in the constitution for elections,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, addressing a news conference.
“In the meanwhile, if anybody is suggesting that the Congress willbecomeheadlessonthestroke of midnight of August 10, is it possible? Is that a fair interpretation of any constitution that August 10 midnight happens and the seat suddenly becomes vacant? Nobody can suggest that. No point giving simple views as they have to be in accord with common sense,” he added.
Singhvi said the process of electing a new party chief will be completedsoonandtillthensonia Gandhi will remain at the helm.
“Sonia Gandhi ji is the president and she will continue till such time a proper procedure is implemented and it will be implemented in the not too distant future. It is as simple as that,” he said.
A veteran Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity that general secretary in-charge of the organisation KC Venugopal will have to inform the election commission that the organisational polls could not be held due to certain reasons and till the time the process is completed Sonia Gandhi will continue to discharge her responsibilities as the party’s interim president.
The CWC can ratify this decision anytime, he added. “There is a process that goes to the CWC and the AICC and this will start anytime and you will get the results soon. We are bound by our party constitution,” added Singhvi. In the run-up to the August 10 deadline, some sections of the Congress had started demanding that Rahul Gandhi return to the post. He was elected the Congress president in December 2017 for five years till 2022.
Congress leaders say that while Rahul Gandhi is not keen to accept that responsibility in the immediate future, Sonia Gandhi is also unwilling to continue in the post for long. In the CWC meeting on August 10 last year, Sonia Gandhi agreed to lead the party once again after repeated pleas by her colleagues and only on the condition that she would stay on interim chief only till an election to choose a full-time president is held.