Congress looking for 15-day window for Rahul's elevation

The Congress is looking for a 15-day window in the busy election season for formal elevation of Rahul Gandhi as the party president.

Forty-seven-year-old Rahul, who has been taking all major decisions in the Congress for some time now, is keen to face an election to the post of party president.

This has put party leaders in a tizzy to find a 15-day window to complete the process.

“The Congress president’s election is just like any other election. There is a calendar for filing nominations, withdrawal of nominations, scrutiny and the actual poll if there are more than one candidate in the fray,” a senior Congress leader said.

As per the assurance given to the Election Commission (EC), the Congress party must complete the process of organisational elections by December 31 this year.

The Congress’ task has been made trickier with the announcement of election to the Himachal Pradesh assembly and the upcoming elections in Gujarat.

The senior leader said the presidential poll schedule may be announced soon after the EC declares the Gujarat election date.

As many as 25 state units have already passed resolutions authorising the Congress president to appoint the PCC presidents and executive committees, besides nominating the AICC delegates from the states. Several states have also adopted resolutions proposing Rahul’s name as Congress president.

Tentative schedule

A senior Congress leader said that the party’s Working Committee would meet “soon” to finalise the schedule for the presidential election and also fix the venue and date for the AICC Plenary.