Voices seeking Rahul Gandhi as Congress president grow louder

The Congress Working Committee met on Sunday to discuss the party's poor performance in the recently-concluded five-state assembly elections.

The Congress leader Manickam Tagore said that the Congress workers wish former party president Rahul Gandhi to head the Party once again, ahead of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Sunday. The CWC meeting is underway in Delhi, chaired by the Party's interim president Sonai Gandhi.

The Congress's highest decision-making body, the CWC, meeting on Sunday is to discuss the defeat in the recently concluded five-state assembly elections. 

The Assembly polls result raised crucial questions regarding the future of the Congress, as Congress failed to retain power in Punjab and effectively challenge the rivals in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. A two-cornered race in UP pushed Congress to a distant margin. 

The Congress leader Tagore said that after the Party's defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi went to the working committee and resigned as party chief. He is the leader who shows the way; he must lead the Congress, adding that they, as Congress workers, always wished Rahul Gandhi to take back his resignation, and they hope that Rahul Gandhi will take over the leadership. 

According to Manickam Tagore, Congress is the only Party capable of competing with organised parties such as the Sangh and the BJP. He said because they are the main opposition party, all criticism will be directed solely at Congress. 

Minutes before the CWC meeting, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also stated that Rahul Gandhi should become the Party's President. While talking to ANI, he said that Rahul Gandhi should become the Party's president. Nobody from the Gandhi family has been Prime Minister or a Minister in the last three decades. It is critical to recognise the Gandhi family's importance to the unity of the Congress, he added. 

Gehlot further added that the Politics of polarisation is easy. On social media, the BJP promoted the Congress as a Muslim party. Our strategy is to preserve the country's integrity and unity. During elections, religion takes centre stage, while inflation and job creation take a back seat for the BJP.

While talking about the previous 2017 election, Gehlot said that Congress was united in 2017 and won; post-Channi became the CM of Punjab, the environment was facilitative. However, it's their mistake that due to the internal conflict, Congress lost the assembly elections in Punjab, he said.