KC Venugopal, party general secretary (organisation), tweeted to say the exact schedule of election for the party top post is likely to be decided on August 28.
A virtual meeting of the CWC will be held on the 28th August, 2022 at 3:30 PM, to approve the exact schedule of dat… https://t.co/zbZAT4KjnF
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) 1661317563000
Party leaders will be busy for the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which commences on September 7; besides, important members of the Gandhi family are currently abroad. These factors could be behind the possibility to defer the long-due election.
A delay will prolong the Congress’ discomfiture from a host of issues- murmurs of discontent about the style of functioning of the top brass, a few high-profile exits from vital party positions and talks of picking a non-Gandhi as president.
However there is still no more clarity over who might take over the reins from Sonia Gandhi.
None of the Gandhis keen to lead?
Rahul Gandhi is reportedly keeping the party on tenterhooks and has so far declined offers to take up the top job again. He was party president from 2017 to 2019.
His sister Priyanka Gandhi is also said to be in focus but her performance as the Uttar Pradesh in charge has not been inspiring, especially with the debacle in the state polls earlier this year.
Meanwhile, current president Sonia Gandhi has said that she would not continue in her role due to health conditions.
If not a Gandhi, then who?
Some Congress seniors are said to be working on Plan-B if none of the Gandhis finally agree to head the party. But no clear “frontrunner” has emerged so far, leaving room for speculations and surmise.
The 71-year-old Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, a Gandhi loyalist, appears to be a suitable non-Gandhi contender for the top party position.
MP unit chief Kamal Nath is said to have declined when approached by a section within the party, saying that he cannot leave the state.
Some say that a senior Dalit leader can be the choice if the party has to fill the post outside the Gandhi family.
This has propped up names like former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Mallikarjun Kharge and Mukul Wasnik.
“G-23” members Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad, after exiting important party positions in their respective states, are believed to have diminished their chances.
Notably, the Congress has not had a non-Gandhi president since 1998, after Sitaram Kesri.
(With agency inputs)