‘Will convince Rahul Gandhi to take over as Congress President’: Salman Khurshid

Gandhi family Virtually attended a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on Sunday where it was decided that the election for the post of Congress Party President would be held on October 17 and the counting of votes would take place on October 19.

When asked whether Rahul Gandhi is the choice of party leaders, Khurshid said PTI“Frankly, from everyone I’ve spoken to or I’ve felt their opinion, he remains number one (choice) and remains single.”

“We haven’t engaged in any further talks than this… We have no clue whether he will accept our request. Today, it was not possible to attend to him because it was just scheduling and it was all too difficult.” Because it was a hybrid meeting,” said Khurshid, a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee. PTI,

“When he comes back, I am sure we would like to persuade him,” Khurshid said.

khurshido Said that “100 per cent” the rank and file of the party wants to put Rahul Gandhi at the top.

The Congress had announced in October last year that the election of its new president would be held between August 21 and September 20 this year.

Congress leader and MP from Wayanad in Kerala, Rahul Gandhi had resigned from the post of Congress President in 2019 after the party’s second consecutive defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

After this, Sonia Gandhi took over as the interim president. He had offered to step down in August 2020 following an open rebellion by G-23 members, but the CWC urged him to continue.

The names of many party veterans including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot have surfaced for the next president’s post. Hindustan Times, This comes amid reports that Rahul Gandhi has refused to return as party chief.

On Wednesday, Gehlot had also mentioned that efforts would be made till the last minute to convince Rahul Gandhi to take over the reins of the party again. Gehlot’s remarks came a day after he met Sonia Gandhi, triggering discussions that the two may have discussed the possibility of her being the next party president.

This comes amid a possible crisis within the party due to senior leader Ghulam Nabi freeResignation from Indian National Congress. Besides this, G-23 leaders, who had written to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi (demanding reforms in the party), met the former Congress leader at her Delhi residence on Saturday. It was reported that the letter seeking reforms was written by Azad himself.

The Grand Old Party has seen several high profile exits in the past few months including Kapil Sibal, Sunil Jakhar, Amarinder Singh, RPN Singh and Ashwini Kumar.

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