CWC likely to deliberate on election of new Congress president on Jan 22

Members of the CWC are expected to discuss and finalise the schedule for organisational elections and the AICC plenary session

A meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) is scheduled for Friday to decide the proposal to hold the election for the post of the party president to succeed Sonia Gandhi.

Congress sources said the central election authority of the party has proposed to hold election for the remaining term of the Congress president till December 2022. "The term of the Congress president is till December 2017 to December 2022. The election is for the remaining term and not for a fresh five-year term," a senior Congress leader said.

Rahul Gandhi was elected Congress president on December 16, 2017. He quit the post after the Congress' dismal performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi was appointed as the interim president in August 2019.

Unease has been growing in the Congress over the absence of full-time active party chief and a group of 23 leaders had conveyed their concerns to Sonia in August last year. The letter by the G-23 leaders, as the ginger group was described in party circles, sent shockwaves in the Congress as it was seen as a sign of distrust in the leadership of the Gandhi family.

Last month, the Congress president had met a section of leaders of the ginger group and assured to address their concerns by holding organisational elections and brainstorming sessions soon.