Congress appoints “Chiefs” in Europe, Assam CM has smashing response

After the Congress party, which presently is being headed by an interim chief, appointed chiefs in Europe, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday came forward to take a dig. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Party leader and Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma asserted that after appointing chiefs in Europe, the next move of the 'grand old Party' would be to appoint chiefs in other planets. He added that the Party and its leaders were living in a 'splendid delusion'. 

"After failing to elect a 'chief' post the 2019 debacle, the Congress is now appointing Chiefs in Europe. The Grand old party continues to live in splendid delusion. Next, it can even appoint chiefs for other planets," Himanta wrote on the microblogging platform. 

On Wednesday, the Congress Party appointed several Presidents and office-bearers for the party’s “international wing” – the Indian Overseas Congress. In a press release, the Congress party stated that it was glad to appoint President for a two year period in several countries in the European region. The newly appointed Presidents of the Indian Overseas Congress has the responsibility to help build and expand the Indian Overseas Congress organization and institution in the respective countries, said the statement released by the Congress party.

Nine Congress Party members have been appointed as Presidents of Indian Overseas Congress units in their respective countries. They are:-

• Dilbag Channa – Italy
• Joy Kochattu – Switzerland
• Dr Sonia Heldst – Sweden
• Sunil Korah – Austria
• Suldleevan Preet Singh – Belgium
• Harpinder Singh Ging- Holland
• Amarjit Singh (Amba) – Poland
• Dr Komal Kumar Javarappa – Finland
• Garisober Singh – Norway

Congress' leadership dilemma 

The appointment of Presidents in European countries comes at a time when the Congress Party has failed to appoint a President in India. Since Rahul Gandhi's exit as Party chief in the post-Lok Sabha 2019 debacle, a lot of turmoil regarding leadership was witnessed with Priyanka Vadra too being considered. However, Congress finally went back to their safe option- Sonia Gandhi.

Then, 23 senior leaders sought 'structural changes', internal election to the CWC even at state levels, the formation of an Independent Election Authority, an institutional leadership mechanism, full-time leadership at the helm at the Party, after which a number of meetings took place. In one such meeting held in January, the deadline for Party elections was fixed to June 2021. However, the deadline was not met, considering the COVID-19 situation in the country.

The reigns of the party are still in the hands of interim president Sonia Gandhi.