Congress delays party chief elections yet again; polls in September 2022: Sources

Shifting the goalpost yet again, the Congress party will hold elections for its party president in September 2022, report sources on Saturday. A schedule of the organisational polls has already been drawn up and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal is briefing other members. Previously, Congress had set a deadline till June 2021 to elect a full-time chief, but delayed it citing COVID-19. Sonia Gandhi has already asserted that she is a 'full-time, hands-on Congress President', refuting the G-23's allegations.

Congress President polls in Sept 2022 

In a clear message to dissenting G-23 members, Gandhi warned members to not talk to her via the media and communicate within party office walls. Source report that G-23 leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has affirmed full faith in Sonia Gandhi ji and that nobody is questioning her leadership. This is the first physical meeting of the CWC since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sonia Gandhi: 'I am a full-time hands-on president'

In her opening remarks, Sonia Gandhi asserted, "I am, if you will allow me to say so, a full-time and hands on Congress President. I've always appreciated frankness. There is no need to speak to me through the media. So let us all have a free & honest discussion. But what should get communicated outside the four walls of this room is collective decision of CWC."

Furthermore, she added, "A schedule for full-fledged organisational elections is before you and Venugopal ji will brief you." Refusing to comment anything on the poll strategy, she said, "We face many challenges, but if we are united and if we focus on Party's interests alone, we will do well. Respective General Secretaries & In-charges will brief us on stated individually". She added, "The entire organization wants a revival of the Congress. But this requires unity and keeping the Party’s interests paramount."

In attendance at Congress Headquarters in Delhi at the CWC meet are 52 Congress top leaders - including Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram, Priyanka Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, CMs Ashok Gehlot, Charanjit Singh Channi and Bhupesh Baghel. Other G-23 leaders like Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Ghulam Nabi Azad are also in attendence. Five leaders including Digvijaya Singh and Dr Manmohan Singh are not taking part in the meeting today.

The call for a CWC meeting was raised by the G-23 leaders amid Capt Amarinder Singh's ouster at the behest of Navjot Singh Sidhu - who himself then quit his post as PPCC chief over differences with CM Charanjit Singh Channi.  G-23 leaders demanded that the interim president i.e. Sonia Gandhi not nominate leaders to the CWC, but hold fair and transparent elections in an open forum. Congress has been in leadership turmoil since Rahul Gandhi stepped down as party chief after the 2019 poll loss and his mother Sonia Gandhi took over as interim chief.