The Congress Working Committee (CWC) approved the schedule for the election of the new party president, with the process starting with nominations on September 24 and culminating with voting on October 17. The discussion of the apex body was, however, marred by doubts raised by G-23 dissident Anand Sharma over the electoral rolls and the elections at the block and district levels.
The AICC elections set the stage for the installation of the new leadership after three years of drift since Rahul abruptly quit the top post in the wake of party’s disastrous defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. But the passage of time has not changed the circumstances, as Congress continues to be in the grip of a protracted churn, the latest being the resignation of senior leader and G-23 head Ghulam Nabi Azad by stating that an attempt by the Rahul Gandhi camp to foist “proxies” as the party president, and the potential leader as “puppet on a string”.
At CWC meeting where only the election schedule was discussed and in which Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined on the same screen (they are abroad for Sonia’s annual medical checkup), Sharma claimed he had received complaints that no election was held at the lower rungs of block, district and state level – a remark seen as amplifying Azad’s allegation that organisational polls were a “giant fraud”. He also claimed that state committees had not received the list of delegates who form the electoral college for the AICC president’s election, terming it a violation.
Congress Election Committee chairman Madhusudan Mistry responded that all the meetings were held, and the list of delegates were ready, approved by the AICC-appointed election observers. He said over 9,000 members will vote and the lists will be provided to candidates who file nominations. It is to be seen if the dissident block muddies the water further by contesting the polls, or by even seeking legal recourse. Sharma was said to be consulting his camp followers.
