Elections for Congress party president likely to be postponed

A senior leader confirmed to ETV Bharat's Saurabh Sharma that "Rahul Gandhi has always said that anybody can contest this election and it is up to the party workers and senior leaders to decide whom to choose for this crucial post."

New Delhi:The elections for the post of Congress President have been postponed for a few days, party sources said on Thursday. The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's topmost decision-making body, will hold a virtual meeting on Sunday to discuss the future prospects for the Congress Party Presidential Elections which is likely to approve the election schedule and final dates.

A senior leader confirmed to ETV Bharat that "Rahul Gandhi has always said that anybody can contest this election and it is up to the party workers and senior leaders to decide whom to choose for this crucial post."

"When the Congress members were detained by the Delhi Police in the first week of this month, they were taken to the Kingsway Camp. Nearly 70 Congress leaders at that point in time discussed this issue on whom to select for this post. Leaders urged Gandhi to go ahead with this but he neither declined nor rejected the offer. But Gandhi reiterated the fact that anybody can contest this election," the leader said.

"As per my analysis and my personal opinion, Rahul Gandhi should become the party President", said another senior party leader. Significantly, several Congress leaders have been urging Gandhi to take over the key Presidential post again but uncertainty continues to loom over this with no sign of any official declaration.

For a few days, several reports doing the rounds have predicted that someone from the non-Gandhi family would become the Party President, with the name of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot occasionally popping up. The latter, however, confirmed that the party will try its best to elect senior leader Rahul Gandhi as president “till the last moment".