The much anticipated meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to decide on who will lead the party following Rahul Gandhi's decision to resign from the top post will be held on Saturday, amidst indications that AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik has emerged the front-runner to be Rahul's successor.
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The CWC, the highest decision making body of the Congress, will meet with the agenda of accepting Rahul's resignation as party president and choosing the next chief. This will end the leadership hiatus in the party ever since Rahul's announcement more than two months back that he wanted to step down as organisational chief following the party's disappointing performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
It will be after a gap of over two decades that a non-Gandhi will occupy the post of Congress president. With Rahul having dug in his heels over his decision to quit as party chief, and chairperson Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ruling themselves out for the top job, the mantle is bound to fall on the shoulders of someone outside the family.
Over the last two months, several names have done the rounds as probables for the post of Congress president, with Wasnik always topping the list, which also includes other dalit leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge and Sushil Kumar Shinde. The 59-year-old Wasnik is a seasoned organisational man. What works in his favour is that he is a dalit face of the Congress, has proved his organisational capabilities, is known to work below the radar and does not like to be in the limelight. He also enjoys the confidence of the Gandhis. He would also be a compromise between a section of the party wanting a veteran to take charge of the organisation, and other leaders demanding a young leader be made the new Congress president.
The buzz around Wasnik's name again gathered steam after a meeting of senior leaders at Sonia's residence this evening. Among the leaders who were present at the meet were party veterans Ahmed Patel and A.K. Antony and AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal.
The delay in the Congress taking a call on Rahul's successor led to aggrieved voices making a plea for the hiatus to end and lamenting that the drift in the party was affecting it in the states, especially those that go to polls later this year.
Party veteran Karan Singh wrote in an advisory to the party, “Instead of honouring his bold decision, a month was wasted in pleading with him to take back his resignation which, as a man of honour and integrity, he should not have been pressurised to do so.”
As the party dragged its feet on nominating Rahul's successor, it found itself in serious trouble in the states. If its government in Karnataka, where it shared power with the JD(S), fell as a result of several MLAs deserting it, its legislators joined the rival TRS and BJP respectively in Telangana and Goa. There is intense infighting in states, especially in Haryana and Jharkhand, which go to polls later this year.
