A high-level Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday cleared the deck for Rahul Gandhi's elevation as party president.
The CWC announced the much-awaited schedule for the party president election. The election process is expected to be over in 10 days. The date of notification is December 1 and December 4 is the last day for nomination. The scrutiny will be done on December 5 and the date of poll is December 16. The counting will take place on December 19, according to media reports. Gandhi is expected to be the only candidate in the fray, the sources said.
This implies that Gandhi's elevation as Congress president will officially happen before the much-anticipated second phase of Gujarat polls on December 14, making it his first major task at hand.
Gandhi has been actively campaigning in Gujarat ahead of the assembly polls, scheduled to be held in two phases on December 9 and 14. He has visited several temples in the state over the course of his campaign, inviting accusations that the Congress was playing a soft-Hindutva card in the state the BJP has governed uninterrupted for 22 years. Eyeing Patidar votes, the Congress scion also made an all-out effort to convert the Patidars' anger against the BJP into votes for the Congress.
Over the last few months, Gandhi had put up a 'renewed' image which made the opposition and as well as the general public to sit up and take note. Ever since he delivered the address at the University of Berkley in the US, his speeches have shown a new vigour—laced with smart oneliners, humour, and criticism for the Modi government's policies. Gandhi's social media account, too, has also taken a new avatar.
As Sonia Gandhi passes on the baton to Rahul, he has great tasks ahead which not only includes upcoming Gujarat and Himachal polls, but tackling factionalism within the party and reinvigorating the grand old Congress.
-with inputs from agencies
