99.9% Congress leaders, workers want Rahul Gandhi as chief: Surjewala

Randeep Singh Surjewala added that Rahul Gandhi belonged to the rare brand of leaders willing to take on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday said that the process to elect a new party chief was underway and 99.9% of its leaders and workers wanted former president Rahul Gandhi to return.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said he believes Rahul Gandhi should be elected president(PTI File Photo)

“The president of the party will be chosen by the electoral college, AICC (All India Congress Committee) members and Congress workers,” Surjewala said addressing a press conference. “Congress workers will choose a person best suited for the post. 99.9% of the party workers and I believe Rahul Gandhi should be elected president.”

Surjewala added that Gandhi belonged to the rare brand of leaders willing to take on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

“This has endeared him to Congress workers and the common people alike,” he said.

Surjewala dismissed suggestions that interim chief Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with a host of party leaders, including some from the group who wrote a letter asking for an organisational rehaul, was a meeting with “rebels or dissenters”. The meeting is scheduled to be held on Saturday.

“On account of Covid-19 protocols, the Congress president was unable to conduct meetings,” Surjewala said. “She has decided that over the next fortnight, a number of meetings will be held to address organisational issues. This is not a meeting of rebels or dissenters because we in the Congress party believe everyone is a part of the same family.”

He added that the issues of the G-23, as the leaders had come to be referred, had been resolved with the announcement of party elections. “The BJP continues to propagate such insinuations, we are one family and we will stay united and work to strengthen the Congress party,” Surjewala said.