Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress Working Committee has planned to hold a meeting in New Delhi on June 6 where elevation of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s stature is likely to be discussed, along with the possibility of forging stronger alliances with parties for a united opposition. The meet, which will be held after a period of seven months, is most likely to discuss making Rahul Gandhi the president of the Congress, PTI quoted party sources as saying on Saturday.
The last meeting, held on November 7 last year, had seen senior leaders, such as former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former defence minister A K Antony, backing the pitch for Gandhi’s elevation to party president. Sources told PTI that the Committee is likely to discuss organisational elections, which may result in Congress electing its next chief by October 15.
The Congress has been looking to unite opposition parties, hoping for a rainbow coalition to counter the BJP wave in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls. With the BJP and its allies only gaining in strength, the Congress has much to do.
It was during the November meeting that the Committee had made a strong pitch for Gandhi to be party president for the first time. “It is for the first time that the CWC is making such a recommendation. We are sure that the Congress president would give it proper care and attention,” Antony had said back in November after the meet. Gandhi was commissioned second-in-command in January, 2013.
Sonia Gandhi has created a record of sorts by being at the helm of the 130-year-old organisation for at least two decades since late Sitaram Kesri’s ouster by the CWC in early 1998.
