<p>Congress will have a new elected president by June this year, the party said on Friday even as senior leaders squabbled during the meeting of the working committee over scheduling the organisational polls.</p>.<p>At a marathon meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the Central Election Authority (CEA) chairman Madhusudan Mistry presented a schedule to hold organisational elections in May, but leaders urged party chief Sonia Gandhi to defer the exercise by a month citing Assembly elections in five states in the April-May period.</p>.<p>“The Congress Working Committee decided that there will be a new elected Congress President by June 2021,” AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal told reporters.</p>.<p>Sparks flew at the CWC meeting as Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took a jibe at dissenters within the party and their demand for organisational elections, including for the CWC.</p>.<p>Senior leader Anand Sharma took exception to Gehlot’s remarks saying it has become a trend to target the letter writers who have never questioned the leadership of Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi.</p>.<p>Rahul intervened and urged the Congress President to settle the issue of organisational elections so that the party can focus on important issues facing the nation.</p>.<p>The CEA had proposed holding organisational elections between May 15 and May 30 with the AICC Plenary on May 29.</p>.<p>“All CWC members unanimously requested Congress president that the internal elections should not interfere with the assembly elections,” Venugopal said.</p>.<p>Congress has been without a full-time president since Rahul quit the post in June 2019, owning responsibility for the party’s debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.</p>.<p>Sonia Gandhi had stepped in as interim President in August 2019 and has been requesting the party to relieve her citing ill-health. Rahul has been reluctant to return as party chief ignoring calls from the Congress rank and file.</p>.<p>In August last year, a group of 23 leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan had written to the Sonia Gandhi calling for a more active and visible leadership, a move that was seen as distrust in the leadership of the Gandhi family.</p>
<p>Congress will have a new elected president by June this year, the party said on Friday even as senior leaders squabbled during the meeting of the working committee over scheduling the organisational polls.</p>.<p>At a marathon meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the Central Election Authority (CEA) chairman Madhusudan Mistry presented a schedule to hold organisational elections in May, but leaders urged party chief Sonia Gandhi to defer the exercise by a month citing Assembly elections in five states in the April-May period.</p>.<p>“The Congress Working Committee decided that there will be a new elected Congress President by June 2021,” AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal told reporters.</p>.<p>Sparks flew at the CWC meeting as Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took a jibe at dissenters within the party and their demand for organisational elections, including for the CWC.</p>.<p>Senior leader Anand Sharma took exception to Gehlot’s remarks saying it has become a trend to target the letter writers who have never questioned the leadership of Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi.</p>.<p>Rahul intervened and urged the Congress President to settle the issue of organisational elections so that the party can focus on important issues facing the nation.</p>.<p>The CEA had proposed holding organisational elections between May 15 and May 30 with the AICC Plenary on May 29.</p>.<p>“All CWC members unanimously requested Congress president that the internal elections should not interfere with the assembly elections,” Venugopal said.</p>.<p>Congress has been without a full-time president since Rahul quit the post in June 2019, owning responsibility for the party’s debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.</p>.<p>Sonia Gandhi had stepped in as interim President in August 2019 and has been requesting the party to relieve her citing ill-health. Rahul has been reluctant to return as party chief ignoring calls from the Congress rank and file.</p>.<p>In August last year, a group of 23 leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan had written to the Sonia Gandhi calling for a more active and visible leadership, a move that was seen as distrust in the leadership of the Gandhi family.</p>
