Rahul as Cong chief: Key meet today
NEWDELHI: The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will hold a key meeting on Monday to possibly decide dates for the party’s organisational elections that could lead to Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as president.
Rahul’s appointment as party chief has been a matter of speculation and the Congress vice-president said recently that he was ready to take over but the final call rested with the organisation.
Party elections at this stage would tie in with the timing of the Gujarat assembly polls as an internal assessment has said Rahul’s elevation would boost its prospects in the state.
If the Congress Working Committee (CWC) accepts the schedule drawn up by the party’s election authority, Rahul could take over as early as December 1, more than four years after he was named the vice president. Gujarat votes in two phases, on December 9 and 14.
The leadership had three options to meet the Election Commission’s December 31 deadline to complete party polls, a Congress leader associated with the ongoing organisational elections told HT on Sunday.
“One was to announce the schedule now and hold the elections immediately after the second phase of polling was over in Gujarat on December 14,” the leader said on condition of anonymity.
The second was to announce the poll dates after December 14 and complete the entire process within 14 days in keeping with the party constitution.
And the third, he said, was that the CWC anoints the 47-year-old as the party chief and then get the decision ratified by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) at a special session.
The AICC has around 2,000 members drawn from states.
The Congress constitution allows the CWC to take any decision, including appointing the party chief, but the decisions have to be ratified by the AICC within six months.
In fact, this was how Sonia Gandhi was appointed the party chief. Exercising its power, the CWC on March 14, 1998 named Sonia as the Congress president in place of Sitaram Kesri. The AICC stamped the move on April 6 and Sonia has had a record uninterrupted run of 19 years.
“We will definitely get more public space and Rahul Gandhi’s campaign as Congress president will not only galvanise the cadre but also generate goodwill among voters,” said a Congress leader involved in the party’s campaign strategy for Gujarat.
Out of power for 22 years in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, the Congress fancies its chances this time with Rahul leading the charge. Since Rahul was appointed Congress vicepresident on January 19, 2013 in Jaipur, there has been a clamour among a large section of the party that he take over as president.
As per the poll schedule drawn up by Congress poll body, the last date of filing nomination papers is December 1 and if there is a contest, the election would be held on December 8.
Since 2000 when the late Jitendra
Prasad unsuccessfully challenged Sonia, the Congress hasn’t seen a contest for the top post.