'Will consider' becoming party chief again, says Rahul Gandhi at CWC meeting

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he "will consider" becoming party chief again as senior leaders urged him to take the mantle at the meeting of Congress Working Committee, according to sources. "I will consider," Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have said at the meeting at the request of senior leaders who urged him to become the party chief again.

Sources said Rahul Gandhi also said he needs clarity at the level of ideology from party leaders. Some leaders said that till the polls, he should be made the working president, the sources added.

Sonia Gandhi had agreed to become interim party chief after Rahul Gandhi resigned following the Congress debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Senior party leader Ambika Soni said after the meeting that everyone in the party is of the opinion that party Rahul Gandhi should become the party president.

"Everybody agreed unanimously, whether he (Rahul Gandhi) will become (the party president) or not is up to him. Everybody is of the opinion that Rahul Gandhi should become the party president," she said. Congress on Saturday announced that elections to elect a new party chief will be held next year between August 21 and September 20.

The announcement was made by party general secretary KC Venugopal after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee. "Election of the AICC president will be held between August 21, 2022, and September 20, 2022," Venugopal said.

He also said that the party is going for a massive training programme from top to bottom. "Workers and leaders at all levels will be trained in party ideologies, policies, expectations of Congress workers, grassroots messaging, election management, failure of the present government and countering propaganda," he said.

The membership campaign begins on November 1 and will continue till March 31 next year. The elections for the block committees will begin from April 1, 2022. Members of G23 have been pressing for elections to elect a new party chief and also for Congress Working Committee.