CWC to meet on August 10 to pick Rahul’s successor

New Delhi: Over two months after Rahul Gandhi quit as Congress president following the party’s Lok Sabha debacle, the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, will meet on August 10 to find a successor.

This will be the first CWC after the one held on May 25 at which Mr Gandhi had given his resignation. Though the CWC had rejected his resignation and authorised him to restructure the party top down, he remained adamant and subsequently released his resignation letter on the social media.

While many formulae were being explored to find his successor at the CWC, the most likely scenario is that Mr Gandhi’s replacement will be named, who would be later ratified by the AICC, a top Congress leader said.

However, some sources said that as of now only an interim chief might be appointed, pending elections to be held for the position later.

The speculation over the CWC date was settled by AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal on Sunday afternoon, when he tweeted: “It has been decided to hold the next Congress Working Committee Meeting on Saturday, 10th of August, 11 am, at AICC”.

Shortly thereafter, rumblings on who should be Mr Gandhi’s replacement began with veteran leader Karan Singh holding that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be the best choice as she would be a unifying force and had the capability to enthuse the cadres.

Mumbai Congress strongman Milind Deora was next: as he proposed the names of Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia for the party president’s post.

Earlier, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh batted for a young leader as Mr Gandhi’s replacement.

Over the last couple of months, the party has been imploding in several states. The coalition government in Karnataka with the JD(S) failed to survive, and there were mass desertions in Goa and Maharashtra.

Of late, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who is known to be the Amethi strongman, also quit the party to join the BJP. Rahul Gandhi suffered a humiliating defeat in Amethi, long regarded as his family’s pocket borough.

The Congress constitution says if an exigency arises, the seniormost general secretary should deal with routine tasks of the Congress chief, and the working committee should name an interim president until a new president is elected.

However, leaders have been claiming that pending the CWC accepting Mr Gandhi’s resignation, he remains the party president, and once his resignation is accepted, his entire team becomes redundant.