Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president after the party suffered its second consecutive defeat in parliamentary elections in 2019. Sonia Gandhi, who took over the reins of the party again as interim president, had also offered to quit in August 2020 after an open revolt by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue. In a scenario of having a non-Gandhi president, the names of Gehlot, Kamal Nath, KC Venugopal, Meira Kumar and Kumari Selja have been doing the rounds.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, will hold a virtual meeting on Sunday to approve the schedule of dates for the election of the Congress president. Sonia Gandhi will preside over the CWC meeting.
We will try to persuade Rahul Gandhi Ji till the last moment to take over as Congress president. The Congress Working Committee meeting is being held on August 28. We would like him to be the president. If Rahul Gandhi does not become the president, many people will be disappointed and will sit at home, Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said. Rahul Gandhi is set to lead a nearly five-month-long Bharat Jodo Yatra from September 7.