CWC meet: Sonia Gandhi to continue as Congress interim president; leaders voice Rahul's name for President

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will continue to serve as interim president of the party, as confirmed by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. He also reaffirmed the party leaders’ faith in her leadership.

Days after its election debacle in five states, the Congress’ top decision-making body on Sunday brainstormed over the way forward “and “unanimously reaffirmed’’ faith in the leadership of party President Sonia Gandhi.

Amid calls for large-scale reforms to revive the party’s dwindling electoral fortunes, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said after the over four-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) that the party president will immediately take up corrective measures to revamp and re-strengthen organisation.

कांग्रेस अध्यक्षा श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी जी की अध्यक्षता में कांग्रेस कार्यसमिति की बैठक pic.twitter.com/6J13RUHLHC

— Congress (@INCIndia) March 13, 2022

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“Congress interim president Sonia will lead us and will take future steps. We all have faith in her leadership,” said Kharge after the party’s working committee meeting.

जिस आज़ादी को हासिल किया था देश के साथ मिलकर, उसी आज़ादी को बचाएंगे हम देश के साथ मिलकर। pic.twitter.com/RLUu117kd2

— Congress (@INCIndia) March 13, 2022

According to ANI, the All India Congress Committee Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao said that a detailed discussion was held about the state elections at the CWC meeting. “She continues to be the president of the party. Detailed discussion was held about the 5 states elections. We discussed how to take things forward and how we prepare for the forthcoming elections,” said Rao. A meeting of the CWC concluded, which was called to discuss the party’s crushing defeat in Assembly elections in five states. The meeting was being held at the party’s 24, Akbar Road office in the national capital,  ANI said.

AICC मुख्यालय में कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी जी, श्री @RahulGandhi जी एवं वरिष्ठ कांग्रेस नेताओं की मौजूदगी में CWC की अहम बैठक शुरू.. pic.twitter.com/T2AOScnmGr

— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) March 13, 2022

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Digvijaya Singh, P Chidambaram, Harish Rawat, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh and KC Venugopal attended the meeting. Among other top leaders present in the meet include Chhattishgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Shaktisinh Gohil, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Rajiv Shukla, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tewari, ANI said in a report. As per ANI, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and five other senior Congress leaders skipped the party’s Working Committee meeting on Sunday. Former defence minister AK Antony skipped the meeting as he tested positive for COVID-19 today. The other leaders who did not attend the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting include party MP A Chella Kumar, former Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam, Tariq Hameed Karra and G Sanjeeva Reddy. Chintan Shivir As per PTI, Sonia Gandhi listened to all leaders at the CWC meet and said she is willing to make the required changes to strengthen the party, sources said. Rahul should be Congress chief: Ashok Gehlot The chorus for making Rahul Gandhi Congress president again grew louder on Sunday as several leaders and workers voiced support for him to take on the mantle of party chief, news agency PTI said in a report. Ahead of a crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said no one was taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gandhi does and was fighting resolutely. “The prime minister has to start his speech after targeting Rahul Gandhi, you can understand what this means,” Gehlot said. Gandhi family binds all sections of country: Cong youth wing chief As per PTI, ahead of a crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Youth Congress chief Srinivas B V on Sunday said the Gandhi family is the thread that binds together not only the Congress but all sections of the country and it is not dependent on any electoral victory or defeat. Srinivas, who is a special invitee to the Congress’ highest decision-making body CWC, took to Twitter to express his backing for the Gandhi family ahead of the high-level party meeting, where a post-mortem of the party’s recent electoral debacle in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab – is expected. “Every single member of the CWC wants Sonia Gandhi to guide party till organisational elections are held,” Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said. As per ANI, ahead of the meeting, the dissident group within the party, G23, had suggested Mukul Wasnik for the post of president of the party, which was not accepted, sources said. Sources said, “G23, which consists of Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, had suggested Mukul Wasnik’s name for the post of president of the party. But it was not accepted.” The source, who is a part of G23, also said that the new party president should lead the party in the manner as was done by Sonia Gandhi in early 2000, ANI said in a report “Though Sonia Gandhi is the (interim) president, it is virtually (being) run by KC Venugopal, Ajay Maken and Randeep Surjewala. There is no accountability fixed on them. Rahul Gandhi is not the president. But he operates from behind the scene and takes decisions. He does not communicate openly. We are party’s well-wishers and not enemies,” added the source. With inputs from agencies  Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.