PC Chacko wants to step down as Delhi Congress in-charge

Chacko said on Thursday that he met Congress president Sonia Gandhi earlier this week and requested her to relieve him of the responsibilities, given that the leadership also has to name a new party chief in Delhi.

Congress’ in-charge of Delhi unit PC Chacko has expressed his willingness to step down from his post to enable the party leadership to put in place a new team ahead of the state assembly elections, due in January-February next year.

PC Chacko has expressed his willingness to step down from his post of Delhi Congress-in-charge (HT FILE)

Chacko said on Thursday that he met Congress president Sonia Gandhi earlier this week and requested her to relieve him of the responsibilities, given that the leadership also has to name a new party chief in Delhi.

Sources said the name of senior leader Tariq Anwar as a possible replacement of Chacko is doing the rounds.

The post of the Delhi Congress chief is lying vacant since the death of Sheila Dikshit on July 20.

“I met the Congress president on Tuesday to discuss the possible names for Delhi Congress president’s post. I am again meeting her in a couple of day’s time after gathering more details,” Chacko said.

“I also expressed my willingness to step down from my post. I told the Congress president that the party can have both a new in-charge and a new president ahead of the assembly elections,” he added.

He also met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday.

Chacko was appointed Delhi in-charge of Congress in November 2014 ahead of the 2015 assembly elections. He replaced Shakeel Ahmed, who had then sought a leave of three months to visit his family in Canada.

In the 2015 polls, the party registered its worst ever electoral performance and failed to open its account. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 67 of the 70 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged the remaining three seats.

Chacko shared an uneasy relationship with Dikshit, who took over as the Delhi Congress president in January 2019, after Ajay Maken resigned on health grounds. The two were at loggerheads over the issue of having an alliance with the AAP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. While Chacko favoured a tie-up with the AAP, Dikshit vehemently opposed it.

Both the Congress and the AAP could not win a single seat as the BJP bagged all seven seats in Delhi.