Sonia Gandhi had said on Monday, ‘I was waiting for this day for a long time.
New Delhi:
Sonia Gandhi, who was the interim president of the Congress for three years, is now likely to return to a quiet schedule after the party’s internal elections are over. “She will continue to be the Congress Parliamentary Party President,” party sources told NDTV.
Sonia Gandhi was elected as the President of the Congress Parliamentary Party in June 2019.
As chair of the Parliamentary Party, Mrs Gandhi will decide who will replace Mallikarjun Kharge as the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha.
Mr Kharge, who replaced him at the top post today, had to step down from the Upper House in line with the party’s “one man one post” rule.
A senior party leader said, “Sonia Gandhi, who took over the reins of the party in August 2019 after the resignation of Rahul Gandhi, has so far used only the post ‘President, Congress Parliamentary Party’ in all her formal communications.” He said that even in his letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he never described himself as Congress President.
The arrival of Mr. Kharge, a Gandhi family loyalist considered the accepted candidate, also envisages the possibility of an advisory role for Mrs. Gandhi. Mr Kharge insisted that he would seek the help of the Gandhi family if needed. “There is no shame in that,” he had told reporters.
Today Rahul Gandhi said he would report to party chief Mr. Kharge, “President will decide what is my role and how am I to be deployed… that you will have to ask Kharge ji and Sonia ji”.
75-year-old Sonia Gandhi withdrew from the internal affairs of the party after handing over the charge to Rahul Gandhi in December 2017. But after relinquishing the top post in August 2019, he had to return, taking responsibility for two consecutive defeats in the general elections. and refused all requests for reconsideration.
At that time, the Congress had concluded that the leader who led the UPA to two successive victories, would revitalize the party. However, Mrs Gandhi’s coming to power did not stop the party’s downfall, which had lost several elections in the states over the past three years.
The result has been calls for change, ousted by top leaders and even open rebellions, as recently in Rajasthan by Ashok Gehlot loyalists over the post of Chief Minister of Rajasthan was.
“I have been waiting for this day for a long time,” Mrs Gandhi said on Monday after casting her vote for the internal election. Today, contrary to Adarsh, she also went to congratulate Mallikarjun Kharge on his victory.