The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Sunday announced that the election for the post of president will be held on October 17, 2022, with the counting of votes scheduled for October 19, 2022.

The notification for the election will be issued on September 22, while the filing of nomination would begin on September 24 and continue till September 30, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry told reporters after a nearly 30-minute meeting of the CWC.

The election schedule was approved unanimously, the party's General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said. The online CWC meeting started at 3:30 PM with Sonia Gandhi, who is abroad for medical check ups, presiding over it, flanked by former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

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Among others present were Anand Sharma, who was part of the G-23 dissident group, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry, K C Venugopal, former union ministers Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik and P Chidambaram and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot along with his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel.

The Congress had announced in October last year that the election of the new party president will be held between August 21 and September 20 this year.

The CWC had last year decided that elections for block committees and one member each of state Congress units will be held from April 16 to May 31, district committee chiefs will be elected between June 1 and July 20, state chiefs and AICC members between July 21 and August 20, and AICC president between August 21 and September 20.

The meeting comes amid several leaders, including Gehlot, having publicly exhorted Rahul Gandhi to return as the party chief. However, uncertainty and suspense continue on the issue. Several party insiders say Rahul Gandhi is persisting with his stance that he will not be the AICC president.

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Gehlot sought to play down reports about him being the frontrunner for the Congress president’s post and said efforts will be made till the last minute to persuade Rahul Gandhi to take over the reins of the party again.

Gehlot’s remarks came a day after he met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, triggering the buzz that the two may have discussed the possibility of him being the next party president.

Speaking with reporters, Gehlot had said, “We will try to persuade Rahul Gandhi ji till the last moment to take over as the Congress president. The Congress Working Committee meeting is being held on August 28. We would like him to be the president." "If Rahul Gandhi does not become the president, many people will be disappointed and will sit at home,” he had said.

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Rahul Gandhi had resigned as Congress president after the party suffered its second consecutive defeat in parliamentary elections in 2019. Sonia Gandhi, who took over the reins of the party again as interim president, had also offered to quit in August 2020 after an open revolt by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue.

First Published:Aug 28, 2022 4:21 PM IST