New Delhi / Rahul Gandhi’s successor: CWC likely to decide next week

Ten days after Rahul Gandhi went public with his resignation as party president , the Congress is yet to schedule a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to decide on his successor. But sources in the party on Friday indicated that it could take place next week once there is clarity on the Karnataka political situation.

Several party veterans, including Karan Singh and Janardan Dwivedi, had questioned the delay as well the procedure of finding a replacement for Mr. Gandhi.

On Thursday, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia in Bhopal had questioned the delay. “We have to search a new party president. A lot of time has elapsed. Now, we cannot allow more time to pass,” he told reporters in Bhopal.

“Deciding about the party president would be a collective decision. The CWC would take a decision. We all have to take a decision together,” he said when asked if he was in the race for the next president.

Names in closed envelopes

The party sources said senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, Mukul Wasnik and Anand Sharma, who have held several meetings and reached out to other senior leaders and Congress Chief Ministers, have asked colleagues to give names in closed envelopes.

From Mr. Wasnik to Mallikarjun Kharge to younger leaders like Sachin Pilot, names of several leaders are doing the rounds in the public domain but the party has been unable to arrive at any consensus candidate.

The most popular names would be shortlisted after consulting other senior leaders, including Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and eventually forwarded to the CWC. But Mr. Dwivedi, former head of organisational matters in the party, had questioned the procedure.

“What kind of a committee is this where A K Antony has not participated? If there was a formal composition, it would be more credible,” he said on Tuesday last.

“There was a gap as Rahul ji should have set up a panel of leaders,’’he said. Mr. Gandhi technically remained the party chief until the CWC formally accepted his resignation, he maintained.