CWC to discuss Congress’ loss in Assembly Elections today, party refutes claims of Sonia, Rahul Gandhi resigning

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet today to discuss the outcome of the assembly elections, even as the opposition party reeling from the latest electoral debacle refuted reports that the Gandhi family members will resign from all organisational posts.

Sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting of the party’s top decision-making body at its headquarters here at 4 pm today. The Congress lost Punjab to the AAP and could not turn any of the four other states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur – from the BJP.

While Sonia Gandhi has not been actively campaigning for some time, Rahul Gandhi has been the star campaigner for the Congress besides Priyanka Gandhi, with the brother-sister duo also playing a major role in key decisions of the party.

Despite a high-pitched campaign led by the AICC general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress could manage to win only two of the 403 assembly seats with the vote share plummeting to 2.33 percent and most of its candidates losing security deposits.

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 an open revolt by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue.

Today’s CWC meeting is likely to see some fireworks as the G-23 dissident leaders, who have questioned the leadership and pressed for organisation overhaul, have indicated that these issues will be raised again.