Following the conclusion of the fiery meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) today, one of the members of the CWC, KH Muniyappa, talking to media said that “Madam”(Sonia Gandhi) will continue on her post as the interim president of the Congress party until the time the party elects a suitable to replace her as the party president.
“Madam (Sonia Gandhi) has to continue and the election will take place as soon as possible which is the unanimous decision of the working committee,” Muniyappa said after the Congress Working Committee meeting.
Madam (Sonia Gandhi) has to continue and the election will take place as soon as possible which is the unanimous decision of the working committee: Congress leader and CWC (Congress Working Committee) member, KH Muniyappa pic.twitter.com/nKddUOhJhc
— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2020
Sonia Gandhi asked Congress to relieve her of her duties as party president
According to the reports, in the 7-hours long marathon meeting of the Congress Working Committee members, the interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed her wish to be relieved of her job as the party president. The request from Ms Gandhi came in the wake of an explosive letter written by 23 senior leaders calling for “a full-time, visible leadership”.
Claiming that she had been hurt by her colleagues, Ms Gandhi ended the meeting on a conciliatory note, saying she held no “ill-will” against the dissenters.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had moved a resolution asking Sonia Gandhi to continue. The party has set a time frame of six-months for the All India Congress Committee to start the search of a new chief, as requested by Sonia Gandhi.
Several of the Congress leaders in the meeting suggested Sonia Gandhi hand over the reins of the party to Rahul Gandhi if she did not wish to continue as party president. Rahul Gandhi had last year tendered his resignation from the post of party president after an embarrassing poll debacle in the 2019 General elections.
CWC meet called to discuss August 7 letter by 23 senior party members
The CWC meeting was convened to discuss the letter issued on August 7 by 23 senior party leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor and Anand Sharma, calling for radical reforms in the party to dispel uncertainty over the leadership and curtail a drift that had demotivated workers. The letter, however, suggested that Gandhis will always be a part of the “collective leadership” of the party.
Apparently, a controversy was kicked up earlier today after several news reports, including NDTV, reported that Rahul Gandhi was unhappy with the dissenters’ letter and accused them of colluding with the BJP.
Senior Kapil Sibal posted a tweet, expressing his anguish over being accused of conniving with the BJP while he had faithfully served the Congress for about 30 years. However, he later backtracked and pulled down the tweet, posting a new tweet in which he claimed he has been personally informed by Rahul Gandhi that he never said what was attributed to him.
Similarly, Ghulam Nabi Azad had also tendered his resignation following the backlash over the letter. But, he too defended Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the Wayanad MP did not make any remark of colluding with the BJP.
