Sonia Gandhi urges Ashok Gehlot to lead Congress: Reports

As the Congress gets ready to announce its schedule for the election of a new party president, incumbent president Sonia Gandhi reportedly met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and urged him to take over the reins of the party.

Amid concerns over Sonia's health and Rahul adamant about not taking charge of the party, the Congress might see a non-Gandhi at the helm of affairs.

Ashok Gehlot, however, is said to be uncomfortable with the idea and reiterated that Rahul is the 'unanimous' choice for the party's top post.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body, will hold a virtual meeting on Sunday to approve the exact schedule of dates for the election of the Congress president.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will preside over the CWC meeting. "A virtual meeting of the CWC will be held on the 28th August, 2022 at 3:30 PM, to approve the exact schedule of dates for the election of the Congress president. Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi will preside over the CWC meeting," Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said on Twitter.

The Congress president will join the meeting virtually from abroad as she is travelling for medical check-ups. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are also accompanying her.

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There have been several calls by leaders publicly exhorting Rahul Gandhi to become party chief again but uncertainty and suspense continue to loom over the party's presidency conundrum.

Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president after the party suffered its second consecutive defeat in parliamentary elections in 2019. Sonia Gandhi who took over the reins of the party again as interim president had also offered to quit in August 2020 after an open revolt by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue.

With PTI inputs