Sonia Gandhi to remain interim president till new party chief chosen
New Delhi: On Monday after a crucial meeting of Congress Working Committee (CWC) party leader KH Muniyappa said that Sonia Gandhi will continue as interim president of Congress and the election of new party chief will take place as soon as possible.
Sources said while CWC members talked of the election of a new president in one year, party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the process should start in six months.
Many leaders demanded Rahul Gandhi should again take the post of party chief.
After controversy erupted over a letter by more than 20 senior leaders to Sonia Gandhi in which they called for full-time active leadership, sweeping reforms, and raised questions about the party's present condition and direction, the key CWC meeting was held which went on for seven hours. They also demanded elections to CWC.
Apart from Sonia Gandhi, the virtual meeting was also attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party general secretary KC Venugopal, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former union ministers Mallikarjun Kharge and AK Antony.
Taking the responsibility for the party's disastrous defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sonia Gandhi was appointed as an interim President on August 10, 2019, by the CWC after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as party chief.
