CWC likely to pick new Congress working president after Budget session: Sources

NEW DELHI: Congress Working Committee – the highest decision-making body of Congress – is likely to meet next week to decide on the new working president of the party, sources said on Sunday.

The party is expected to convene a meeting of the CWC to decide on the issue after Parliament's ongoing Budget Session gets over, said sources.

Rahul Gandhi, who has resigned as Congress president taking moral responsibility for his party's humiliating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, remains adamant on his decision despite repeated requests from top party leaders and refuses to withdraw his resignation.

Meanwhile, his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also refrained from taking any decision in this regard. 

A senior Congress leader was quoted as saying on the condition of anonymity by IANS that the CWC will meet after the conclusion of the Budget Session to decide on the new Working President.

According to the Congress leader, the CWC meeting was supposed to take place in the first week of August, but since the Budget Session has been extended by a week, it will now be held after that.

Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi will attend the upcoming CWC meeting, but he will not participate in electing his successor.

The party leader further said that even Rahul Gandhi's sister Priyanka Gandhi will not participate in electing the new Working President of the party.

The Gandhi scion offered to quit from his post during the CWC meeting on May 25, just two days after the 2019 Lok Sabha election results were declared.

However, his offer was categorically rejected by the CWC, which gave him powers to make structural changes in the party.

Rahul Gandhi later tweeted his resignation letter on Twitter in which he said that ''it was an honour for him to serve his party.''

''It is an honour for me to serve the Congress Party, whose values and ideals have served as the lifeblood of our beautiful nation. I owe the country and my organisation a debt of tremendous gratitude and love,'' Rahul said in his tweet.

Rahul Gandhi's resignation triggered a leadership crisis within the party and a flurry of resignations with several district, state and national-level office-bearers following the suit and quitting from their post in support of their party president.    

Earlier this week, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and General Secretary Harish Rawat informed that Rahul Gandhi's resignation has not been accepted by the CWC yet… So technically it cannot be said that the party is headless.”

Congress is also reported to be mulling the idea of a 'Presidium system', and of having several working presidents.

It may be recalled that in the recently concluded 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Congress party could manage to win only 52 out of 542 seats.