Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 10

Elections to the post of Congress president were deferred temporarily in the wake of Covid pandemic with the party’s working committee on Monday unanimously deciding in favour of postponing the internal organisational poll.

The CWC resolution said: “In view of the nationwide emergent conditions prevailing on account of unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic, the CWC was unanimous that all our energies should be channelised towards saving every life and helping every Covid-affected person. The CWC, therefore, unanimously resolved to defer the elections temporarily.”

Azad, Anand sharma question poll pacts

• Veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma questioned the alliance strategy, with Sharma urging for inclusive inner party consensus on poll pacts
• Azad asked who had approved the pact with radical Indian Secular Front in WB
• Sharma also spoke of the need for ‘tolerance to debate’ within the Congress

After a three-hour meeting that reviewed Congress’ electoral reverses in Kerala, Assam, Puducherry and West Bengal, party president Sonia Gandhi said she would in the next 48 hours form a committee to go into all aspects of electoral defeats and report back to the CWC.

Panel to analyse poll results

I intend to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused poll reverses and report back very quickly. —Sonia Gandhi, Congress chief

Former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi were absent from the meeting. Digvijay Singh questioned Congress alliance with Muslim outfits in Bengal, Kerala and Assam saying elections should “not have been polarised.”