Sonia Gandhi offers to resign as party chief, asks CWC to start process to elect new chief
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| Sonia Gandhi offers to resign as party chief, asks CWC to start process to elect new chief |
New Delhi : Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi made an offer to be relieved as interim party president in her opening remarks at the working committee meeting which started a while ago in the backdrop of a section of leaders asking for complete overhaul of the organisation and a visible and full-time president.
“I have told KC Venugopal in my letter that I want to be relieved and the process to find a new party president be started,” Sonia told the CWC with former prime minister Manmohan Singh being the first leader at the CWC to ask her to stay.
Former defence minister AK Antony also urged Sonia to rethink and continue. Both Singh and Antony are learnt to have made critical remarks about the letter signed by some 20 party leaders, including ex-ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Mukul Wasnik and former Haryana CM BS Hooda, seeking collective decision making with Gandhis integral to it.
Sonia Gandhi offers to resign as party chief, asks CWC to start process to elect new chief
Sonia Gandhi offers to resign as party chief, asks CWC to start process to elect new chief
Sonia is learnt to have named Azad thrice in her intervention while offering to quit the post of interim chief she accepted last year on August 10 when the CWC urged her to accept the role after her son and former chief Rahul Gandhi resigned taking responsibility for the party’s Lok Sabha debacle.
In making the offer of resignation, Sonia repeated her 1999 act when faced with questions about her foreign origin she resigned, but the CWC unanimously rejected the move prevailing on her to stay.
At that time Sharad Pawar, then leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, with CWC colleagues PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar raised questions on Sonia’s origin to ensure she couldn’t become party PM face in the 1999 general election.
Pawar had to quit the Congress to form the NCP while Sonia went on to contest her first LS poll from Amethi and won.
Even today after Sonia’s resignation offer the entire CWC with around 50 members is expected to reject the offer.
Sonia Gandhi offers to resign as party chief, asks CWC to start process to elect new chief
Meanwhile, all four Congress chief ministers—Punjab’s Amarinder Singh, Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel and Puducherry’s V Narayanasamy—have backed Sonia as chief or Rahul as her replacement as and when she wants to step down.
Majority Congress state units have also passed resolutions asking Sonia to continue and slamming dissidents for going public with their letter.
Rahul Gandhi appeared in the virtual meeting of the CWC at her mother’s side. The meeting is under way.
CWC sources said there was outrage within the members over the letter by dissident leaders.
Sonia even said at the meeting that Azad sent her two reminders after writing the letter for leadership change.
“I’ve given my reply to KC Venugopal,” said Sonia who first became party chief after dislodging Sitaram Kesri in 1998.
Rahul Gandhi addressed the CWC and criticised the letter by some leaders saying it’s the CWC platform where leaders discuss grievances not in the media. Rahul also questioned the timing of the letter which was sent when Sonia was in the hospital recuperating from a recent illness.
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