RJD leader slams Surjewala for claim almost all Congress members want Rahul as party chief

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Shivanand Tiwari on Saturday slammed Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala for his claim that that almost 100 per cent of party members want Rahul Gandhi to be the party president. "It is not right to put out such numbers before any actual elections. This undermines the democratic principles of an institution," said the RJD leader.

Tiwari said that such statements should not be made. Surjewala should clarify whether the people who left the party are part of the remaining 0.1 pc, he said. These remarks came after Surjewala asserted on Friday that 99.9 per cent of people including him want party leader Rahul Gandhi to be elected as party president.

While addressing a press conference, Surjewala said that the party will soon start the procedure to elect a new party president in which electoral college of Congress, AICC members, Congress workers and members will choose a person who is best suited for the post. Yesterday Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi announced that meeting has been called with senior party leaders on Saturday to formulate the party's strategy on the current political scenario amid the ongoing farmers' agitation against farm laws. The meeting expected to continue for 10 days.

Sonia Gandhi was appointed as an interim president on August 10, 2019, by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as party chief, taking the responsibility for the party's disastrous defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.On August 24, 2020, CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, adopted a resolution in which it unanimously requested Sonia Gandhi "to continue to lead the Indian National Congress" until such time as circumstances will permit an All India Congress Committee (AICC) session to be convened. She had earlier helmed the party as its chief for nearly 19 years. (ANI)