New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi will continue to remain party's interim president as the Congress Working Committee (CWC) Sunday "reaffirmed" faith in her leadership during the meeting called in to deliberate upon the recent debacle in Assembly elections in five states.
The CWC termed the party's abysmal performance a "cause of serious concern" and unanimously reaffirmed that the party will contest the forthcoming elections including the 2024 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and requested her to lead from the front.
The highest decision-making body of Congress met Sunday evening and the meeting lasted for around five hours. "Congress interim president Sonia will lead us and will take future steps. We all have faith in her leadership," Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said after the meeting. All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary K C Venugopal said "CWC unanimously reaffirms faith in the leadership of Congress President Sonia Gandhi".
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi in her speech during the meeting said she, Rahul and Priyanka were ready to resign if the party felt so. "Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in her speech said that if the party feels we all three (herself, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) are ready to resign, but CWC unanimously rejected this," they said.
Venugopal also said that the president was in the process of shortly introducing measures to "re-vamp, restrengthen" the organization. He further highlighted that a 'Chintan Shivir' (strategizing event) would be held after the Budget Session of the Parliament, noting that the Congress top-group would meet again before that. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has suggested that the event be held in his state.
Explaining the course of conversation during the meeting, Goa Congress in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao stated that the recently concluded poll results as well as those lying ahead were the main topics.
"She (Sonia Gandhi) continues to be the president of the party. Detailed discussion held about the 5 states elections. We discussed how to take things forward and how we prepare for the forthcoming elections," Rao said.
Also read: Congress MP blames Navjot Sidhu for Punjab debacle
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K.C Venugopal, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, and P Chidambaram were among those in attendance.
Sparks were predicted ahead of the meet, as representatives from G-23 dissident leaders, who have questioned the leadership and pressed for organization overhaul, indicated that the issue of internal polls could be raised again.
Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma were among the G-23 leaders participating in the meet.
The Congress lost Punjab to the AAP, could not wrest Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur from the BJP and the party's tally in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh fell to its lowest.
While Sonia Gandhi has not been actively campaigning for some time, Rahul Gandhi, along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had been the star campaigners for the Congress in the polls, with the brother-sister duo also playing a major role in key decisions of the party.
Ahead of the meeting, Ashok Gehlot batted for Rahul Gandhi, asserting that the latter was a perfect fit for the post of Congress president.
"Rahul Gandhi should become the party president. For the last 3 decades, nobody from the Gandhi family became a PM or a minister. It is significant to understand that the Gandhi family is important for Congress' unity," Gehlot said.
He further attributed Congress' decimation in the recently concluded Punjab assembly elections to 'internal conflict'.
Also read: 16 municipal councillors in Amritsar join AAP
"After Channi became the CM, the environment was conducive too, but it was our mistake that due to internal conflict we lost Assembly elections in Punjab," he stated.
Meanwhile, many Congress workers were seen outside AICC headquarters in New Delhi during the meeting, demanding Rahul Gandhi be made party president.
Despite a high-pitched campaign led by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress could manage to win only two of the 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh with the vote share plummeting to a meager 2.33 percent and most of its candidates losing security deposits.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had resigned as Congress president after the party suffered its second consecutive defeat in general 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 strong criticism by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue.
Earlier in the day, top Congress leaders discussed the party's strategy for the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament and decided to work in coordination with other like-minded parties to raise issues of public importance.
The meeting of the Congress Parliamentary strategy group was held at the residence of party president Sonia Gandhi.
With agency inputs
