Sonia Gandhi May Resign as Congress Party Chief
Sonia Gandhi has told her aides that she does not want to continue as interim Congress president.
After badly losing the elections in 2019, Rahul Gandhi quit from his role as Congress party chief. Since he quit, his 73-year-old mother Sonia Gandhi became the chief. However, due to her poor health she has not been able to effectively lead the Congress party. On 7th August, 20 top Congress leaders had written a strong letter to Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi asking for major changes in the party. Congress leaders who signed the letter are Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor and many others.
In the letter, the Congress leaders said that they want a full time strong leader who will actively lead the party.
The letter also said that since it lost the 2014 General Elections, people in India have stopped supporting the Congress. Since their loss, Congress made no changes in its policies. The Leaders said that for a long time there was uncertainty over who would lead the Congress. Because of this the Congress party is not working properly and workers are demoralised. In the letter, leaders have called for elections to pick the members of the Working Committee - the highest decision-making body of the party.
Congress leaders said that right now India is going to have extremely difficult social, political and economical problems. The Congress needs to make major changes so that the party can help India solve these problems and develop. The letter has split the Congress down the middle. There are now two camps within the part. One supports Sonia Gandhi and the other does not.
The letter suggests that the Gandhis, who have led the party for most of its 134-year history, can remain an "integral part of a collective leadership". According to sources, Sonia Gandhi has now told her aides that she does not want to continue as party chief. She will either resign immediately or give the party a deadline to find a new chief.
