The Congress Working Committee (CWC), which met for the second time on Saturday evening, elected Sonia Gandhi as the as the interim party chief.
At a press meeting held after the election of Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary K.C. Venugopal thanked Rahul Gandhi for leading the party through difficult times. He said the party had again urged him to continue guiding the party, but he declined. The party then requested Sonia Gandhi to lead the party, to which she obliged, he said.
The much-awaited meeting of the CWC was held on Saturday morning to decide on the leadership issue, and on expected lines, the CWC members had unanimously requested Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his decision to resign as party president following the Lok Sabha debacle. He, however, thanked them for showing confidence in him and reiterated his decision to step down, forcing them to convene a second meeting.
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The meeting was stopped mid-way to discuss the developments in Jammu and Kashmir amid reports of violence in the Valley. Rahul Gandhi, who left the meeting earlier, was called back to attend the meeting. "Now it is very important that the government of India and the prime minister make it very clear and transparent on what exactly is happening in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh," he said after coming out of the meeting.
"We are extremely concerned about the reports that are coming and the government needs to assuage the country and tell the country what is happening in Jammu and Kashmir," he told reporters.
