New Delhi: After much ‘discussions’ the Congress Working Committee (CWC) have decided on Sonia Gandhi to head the party as interim President to replace Rahul Gandhi who stepped down after delivering a disastrous loss to Congress in the Lok Sabha elections.
The CWC was divided into five groups to come up with a name for President. The groups represented the different regions of India – north east, east, north, west, and south. Yet they could not find a suitable person to become the party president. In the end, CWC decided to elect Sonia Gandhi as the interim president till a new president is decided upon.
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had earlier said that they would not take part in the selection process as they were presidents earlier and did not want their suggestions to influence the selection process.
However, Priyanka Gandhi took part in the consultation and was part of one of the five groups of the CWC.
In spite of all the big talks of the Gandhi family being averse to the top post, the family seems to be in full control of the deliberations of the CWC. With Priyanka Gandhi taking part in the consultations, the stamp of Gandhi family on the CWC decision was sure.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi also reached the AICC Office where the CWC deliberations were going on. He claimed that the CWC had summoned him because of some things going wrong in Jammu and Kashmir. He even claimed that the meeting was cut short to discuss the matter in the Union Territories.
Rahul Gandhi had stepped down from the post of President of Congress party on 25 May taking blame for the dismal performance of the party. Many office bearers of the party also gave in their resignations in support of Rahul Gandhi. Even after the party trying to shield the Gandhi scion from criticism about his leadership that led to the defeat, Rahul Gandhi decided to step down.
The loss of Congress party was severe and humiliating that without taking a moral responsibility Rahul Gandhi will find it extremely hard to keep the ranks and file intact.
Sonia Gandhi stepping back into the shoes of President of the grand old party is an attempt to salvage the party from a complete wipe out. The party is facing dissent and desertion with many leaders leaving the party. Senior leaders came out against the high command and took a nationalist stand when Article 370 was abrogated by the BJP government.
