SONIA GANDHI MAY STEP DOWN AS CONGRESS PRESIDENT BY
OCTOBER
Sonia Gandhi may step down from the Congress presidentship, paving
the way for Rahul Gandhi's possible elevation when the party holds its internal
elections by October 15.The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest
decision-making body, today approved the schedule for internal elections under
which the party has to complete the exercise by October 15.In her speech at the
CWC meeting, Sonia Gandhi exhorted partymen to strengthen the organisation and
complete the organisational polls with "speed and sincerity"."We
must strengthen our organisation. The ongoing organisational elections must be
completed with the utmost speed and sincerity," she said at the meeting,
ahead of the CWC approving the poll schedule.Asked whether the issue of
elevation of Rahul Gandhi was discussed at the meeting, senior Congress leader
Ghulam Nabi Azad replied in the negative."The schedule for organisational
elections has been cleared by the CWC," Azad said, adding that Rahul's
elevation was not specifically discussed.
The CWC members had in the last meeting in November unanimously
expressed "strong sentiment" for Rahul's elevation for the first time
and may take it further.At the November 7 meeting, all members, including
former prime minister Manmohan Singh and senior leader A K Antony, had made a
strong pitch for Rahul to take over the reins of the party.The Congress
president has created a record by being at the helm of the 130-year-old
organisation for nearly two decades since late Sitaram Kesri's ouster by the
CWC in early 1998. Rahul was appointed party vice president in January 2013 at
Congress's brainstorming session in Jaipur
Prof. John Kurakar
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