Sonia Gandhi will remain Congress party's interim president and a new chief will be elected within the next 6 months, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) unanimously decided after deliberations of over seven hours. P. L. Punia, a Congress leader and a member of the CWC, said Sonia Gandhi has to continue and new election will take place as soon as possible. This, he said, was the unanimous decision of the working committee. "Members expressed faith in Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and urged her to continue leading party, she agreed. Next meeting to be called soon, probably within 6 months, to elect new chief. Till then, Sonia Gandhi agreed to remain interim president," Punia said. Another senior leader, K. H. Muniyappa, said there is no different opinion on leadership. "There is no different opinion on leadership and even Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mukul Wasnik and Anand Sharma have given in writing that there is no dispute on leadership," Muniyappa said. Earlier, Sonia Gandhi asked members to relieve her from the top post. The crucial meeting of the CWC was held after 23 leaders wrote to the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi calling for sweeping reforms in the party. Manmohan Singh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Amarinder Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Punia, K. C. Venugopal and A. K. Antony among others attended the virtual meeting. Sonia Gandhi was appointed as an interim president on Aug. 10, 2019, by the CWC, after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as party chief, taking the responsibility for party`s disastrous defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Congress seems divided over the issue. Gandhi family loyalists and Congress chief ministers took on the section of leaders who signed the letter and rallied behind the Gandhi family, calling for Sonia Gandhi to stay or Rahul Gandhi to take charge again. — Agencies
