AFTER 23 YEARS, CONG TO ELECT ITS PRESIDENT

● The Congress will have an elected president by June 2021, with the party’s CWC on Friday approving holding the internal election after the assembly polls.

The Congress Party will have an elected president by June 2021, with the party’s working committee on Friday approving holding the internal election after Assembly polls in five states. The Congress Working Committee (CWC), after a three-and-a-half hour meeting, authorised incumbent party chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal election after the conclusion of Assembly polls.

General secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said, “Congress Working Committee has decided that there will be an elected Congress president by June 2021.”

The party elections will be held in May, after elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry. Several Congress leaders were hoping to go to the elections under new leadership, however that failed to happen.

Senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik and P. Chidambaram reportedly asked for immediate organisational polls. While leaders like Ashok Gehlot, Amarinder Singh, A.K. Antony, Tariq Anwar and Oommen Chandy said the Congress president’s election should be held after state polls.

The CWC also passed resolutions on three issues of national importance, including farmers’ protest, Covid19 vaccine and WhatsApp chat leaks of Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami.