There will be no immediate change of guard in the Congress at the helm of affairs, as Sonia Gandhi completes a year as its interim president, with the party today confirming that she will continue to lead it till the time a “proper procedure” is set in motion to elect the new party chief.
Sonia's tenure as interim president ends on August 10, and there had been intense speculation on the way ahead—whether she would be confirmed as a full-time president or whether Rahul Gandhi would come back as party chief or whether a non-Gandhi could be appointed in the event of Sonia not willing to continue in the post and Rahul not willing to make a comeback.
However, putting all speculations to rest for the moment, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters that Sonia will continue as interim president till a proper procedure is implemented to elect the new party chief. “It will be implemented in the not too distant future,” he added.
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Singhvi said that while Sonia's term as interim president comes to an end on August 10, it does not mean that the post would fall vacant automatically.
“Yes, her tenure comes to an end on August 10. But be rest assured that there is a process which goes through the CWC (Congress Working Committee). This will be followed in the near future and a result will emerge,” he said, adding that procedure as laid down in the party's Constitution would be followed. “Now, in the meanwhile, if anybody is suggesting that the Congress will become headless at the stroke of midnight on August 10, you have to only ask yourself, is it possible, is that a fair interpretation of any constitution that on August 10, suddenly the seat becomes vacant,” he said.
The news of Sonia's continuation as interim president comes even as there has been a growing demand in the party for the uncertainty with regard to the leadership issue to be removed as soon as possible. Many leaders have called for a full-term president to be put in place, saying the leadership vaccum at the helm was hurting the party and not allowing it to take steps to revive and emerge as a strong opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
There is a renewed clamour for Rahul, who had resigned as party president following the Lok Sabha debacle, to come back and take the reins, even as there are other leaders who say that if he is reluctant, then elections should be held for the post of party chief, which would mean a non-Gandhi getting the top job.
