Sonia Gandhi to remain interim Congress president, new chief within 6 months

Sonia Gandhi will continue as the interim Congress president till a new chief is elected in an AICC session, which will be convened as and when the situation permits, the

Sonia Gandhi will continue as the interim Congress president till a new chief is elected in an AICC session, which will be convened as and when the situation permits, the party decided at the end of a stormy Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday.

It was also decided that a committee will be set up to assist Gandhi look into the issues raised in the letter by 23 leaders.

Gandhi had, in the meeting, offered to quit the post asking the committee to initiate the process of electing a new chief to the party.

Hours after high drama unfolded in Congress Working Committee meeting over Rahul Gandhi’s purported remark, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad clarified that Gandhi never said the letter by 23 party leaders was written at behest of or in collusion with BJP.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal had also expressed displeasure over former president Rahul Gandhi’s purported remark that the 23 dissident leaders, who had written to interim chief Sonia Gandhi on the leadership crisis, were “colluding with BJP”.

However, the senior advocate later withdrew his statement following a clarification from Rahul.

Meanwhile, Sonia reiterated her unwillingness to continue as the Congress interim chief and asked the CWC to begin the process of “transition” to relieve her from her duties.

And Rahul questioned the timing of the letter by 23 senior leaders, saying the letter came at a time when the party was battling a crisis in Rajasthan and the party chief was unwell.

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