NEW DELHI: The Congress party has called a meeting of its Working Committee (WC) on August 28 to determine the poll schedule for party president's post.
"A virtual meeting of the Working Committee will be held on the 28th August 2022 at 3:30 PM, in order to approve the exact schedule of dates for the election of the Congress President. Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting," said Venugopal, party General Secretary Organisation.
Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan, has emerged as the front-runner for the position of congress president. According to sources, Sonia Gandhi asked him to take charge during a meeting she held prior to going abroad for medical evaluation and treatment.
Although the Gehlot camp has not officially announced the news, source said that the Congress is considering candidates other than the Gandhis for the top position. As the grand old party is still looking for a consensus candidate for the top job after Rahul Gandhi's denial, the Central Election Authority of the Congress is awaiting approval from the party's working committee to publish the schedule for voting the next Congress President.
The Rajasthan Chief Minister had warned on Monday that Rahul Gandhi should reconsider his pick as it will demoralise the party members, despite sources claiming that Ashok Gehlot is the top contender. Gehlot has indicated that Rahul Gandhi was the preferred and undisputed candidate for party president but is opposed to the concept of holding the position.
According to the sources, the Congress wants to finish the organisational election by September in order to avoid being targeted by the G-23 coalition following the resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma from their state committee posts and with Haryana strongman Bhupinder Singh Hooda defending the interests of senior party leaders. Bhupesh Baghel, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, was the other candidate being tossed around for the top party position.
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