Sonia Gandhi set to resign as Congress interim-chief, tells to 'find a new chief’: sources

Update at 8:00 PM

Amid rising calls to Rahul Gandhi to take over as Congress chief, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala clarified that Sonia Gandhi is not stepping down as interim-chief.

 

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In a massive jolt to the Grand Old Party, Congress interim-chief Sonia Gandhi may step down from her post under pressure, report sources on Sunday. This move comes as 23 Congress leaders wrote to her seeking structural changes in the party - several senior leaders have opposed the idea, reiterating faith in the Gandhis' leadership. The critical Congress Working Committee (CWC) is set to meet on Monday as Sonia Gandhi's term as interim-chief comes to an end.

Sonia Gandhi: ‘Get together and find a new chief’

Responding to the leaders seeking structural change, sources report that Sonia Gandhi  has aked the leaders that all of them should get together and find a new chief. Sources state that Gandhi has indicated does not want to carry out the responsibilities any further. The Congress is allegedly now plaaning to vote a 'non-Gandhi' president once Sonia Gandhi steps down.

Congress Vs Congress on 'structural changes'

On the other hand, backing the Gandhis, Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh said this was not the time to raise such an issue, ahead of a crucial CWC meeting on Monday. The Punjab CM warned that any move to divide or destabilize the party would give advantage to the 'dictatorial forces' and would be detrimental to the party's interests. Apart from Singh, several other Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid, Sanjay Nirupam, Siddaramaiah, Bhupesh Baghel have also opposed this idea. 

Khurshid has said that 'Congress should give consensus a chance instead of internal polls', whil talking to PTI. Meanwhile, Nirupam has alleged that this letter is a 'conspiracy hatched in closed rooms' to blunt Rahul Gandhi's chance to lead the party once again. Both Siddaramaiah and Baghel have stated that only Sonia or Rahul can lead the party.

23 leaders seek 'structural changes'

Hinting at apparent turmoil within the Grand old party, 23 senior leaders have written to party's interim-Chief Sonia Gandhi raising  a 5-Point Agenda to revive the Party. The letter emphasised on the need for active leadership in the party and raised questions about the party's condition and direction, demanding an internal election to the CWC. The five-page letter - drafted by two senior leaders bears the signatures of leaders from the Congress' 'old guard ' and the 'young guard' (i.e Rahul Gandhi supporters). Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari,  Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Jitin Prasad, Veerappa Moily, Pramod Tiwari, PJ Kurien, Sandeep Dikshit, as per sources.  Meanwhile, Congress has denied that it has received any such letter.

Congress' string of resignations

Since the resignation of  Rahul Gandhi as party chief post-2019 Lok Sabha debacle, several Congress members have resigned from their posts. Rahul Gandhi's resignation triggered over 200 Congress leaders to resign from their party post 'in honour and respect of Rahul Gandhi' as stated in their resignation letters - including Milind Deora, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Jyotiraditya Scindia. While Scindia has since then jumped to BJP, toppling the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, Congress also received a scare as Sachin Pilot along with 18 MLAs split away from Gehlot's Rajasthan government - bringing it to the brink of collapse.  The party has also seen too many defections across states and has also thrown out Sanjay Jha for raising the same issues the 23 leaders have.