NEW DELHI: Hours after Sonia Gandhi offered to step down as interim party President, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday unanimously requested her to continue to lead the party till such time as circumstances permit an AICC session to be convened.
Addressing the media after a stormy CWC meeting here, Congress General Secretary (Organisations) KC Venugopal said that the CWC passed a resolution that intra-party issues “cannot be deliberated” through the media or in public fora.
“The CWC urges and advises all concerned to raise such issues only in party fora in the interest of propriety and discipline,” Venugopal said while reading out the resolution. He also said that the CWC authorised the Congress President to effect “necessary organisational changes” that she may deem appropriate to take on the challenges listed above.
“In the light of the above deliberations and conclusions, the CWC unanimously requests Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead the Congress until such time as circumstances will permit an AICC session to be convened,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi had offered to quit the top post. However, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged her to continue as the party chief. The party resolution also said that it had taken note of the letter of Congress chief as also a letter written earlier by certain Congress leaders to Sonia Gandhi. The CWC also thanked Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi for questioning the Narendra Modi government over the handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the issue of migrant workers,job losses, and spiralling economy.
The CWC also discussed the “brazen aggression” into and occupation of Indian territory by the Chinese. “The CWC makes it clear that no one will be or can be permitted to undermine or weaken the party and its leadership at this juncture. The responsibility of every Congress worker and leader today is to fight the pernicious assault on India’s democracy, pluralism and diversity by the Modi government,” the resolution read.
