Sonia Gandhi holds meeting to select Delhi Cong chief

Delhi Congress may soon have a chief with Congress president holding discussions with state leaders as the national capital will be headed for Assembly elections in the next six months.

After the passing away of Sheila Dikshit on July 20, the Delhi Congress is led by three working presidents Harun Yusuf, Devender Yadav and Rajesh Lilothia.

Sources said Sonia recently held a meeting with district presidents and other senior Delhi Congress leaders along with Congress in-charge P C Chacko.

There has been criticism that the Congress is not being able to galvanise its cadre since Lok Sabha elections when it improved its performance and relegated the ruling AAP to the third position. In incidents like the recent demolition of Sant Ravidas temple, the Delhi Congress did not actively take up the issue.

Sources said the names of Ajay Maken, Devender Yadav, J P Aggarwal and Subhash Chopra are being actively considered for the post of Delhi Congress chief. Former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely is another contender.

Earlier, the names of Navjyot Singh Sidhu and Shatrughan Sinha were also speculated but some Congress leaders insist that the chief would be a Delhi leader and not an outsider.

Though there is no consensus on a name at present, sources said an announcement is expected soon, as it cannot be delayed any more because of the Assembly elections. At present, Congress has no MLAs in the Assembly and it hopes to have some with its Lok Sabha performance.

There are also talks about bringing in a new Congress in-charge in place of Chacko, who had a running feud with Dikshit. Chacko himself has informed Sonia that he should be relieved from the charge as he was holding the position for more than four years and there were rumours that Tariq Anwar, a former NCP leader who joined Congress ahead of Lok Sabha elections, could fill in the shoes.

One of the criticisms within the party is that Congress is not being able to take up people's issues and galvanise its workers with elections just around the corner. One of the complaints is that it is not being able to capitalise on the gains the party made in the Lok Sabha elections.