The Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), and Gujarat unit of the Congress on Sunday passed a unanimous resolution to elect Rahul Gandhi as the party’s national president, a day after the Congress’s Rajasthan unit did so.
More PCCs are expected to take similar steps as part of a planned move before the filing of nominations from September 24 for the upcoming Congress presidential elections.
Gandhi resigned from the post after the grand old party’s loss in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and has since rejected calls to take back the chief post of the party.
Last month, the Congress said the election for its president will be held on October 17.
The result will be declared on October 19.
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Let’s take a look at all the states that have demanded Gandhi’s return as the party chief so far:
Rajasthan: The Rajasthan unit of the Congress on Saturday unanimously passed an informal resolution to elect Gandhi as the party president, with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who was seen as a potential candidate for the post, proposing the motion at the Pradesh Congress Committee meeting in Jaipur. Rajasthan was the first state to pass such a resolution in a bid to persuade Gandhi to take over the reins of the party again. After the meeting, Rajasthan food and civil supplies minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said a resolution was also passed authorising the incoming party chief to appoint the Rajasthan Congress president and nominate the members of All India Congress Committee (AICC) from the state. “Congress is one and the resolution in favour of Rahul Gandhi was moved by the chief minister himself. People raised hands and left it to the Congress president to appoint the new state chief and AICC delegates from the state,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Rajasthan: The Rajasthan unit of the Congress on Saturday unanimously passed an informal resolution to elect Gandhi as the party president, with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who was seen as a potential candidate for the post, proposing the motion at the Pradesh Congress Committee meeting in Jaipur. Rajasthan was the first state to pass such a resolution in a bid to persuade Gandhi to take over the reins of the party again. After the meeting, Rajasthan food and civil supplies minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said a resolution was also passed authorising the incoming party chief to appoint the Rajasthan Congress president and nominate the members of All India Congress Committee (AICC) from the state. “Congress is one and the resolution in favour of Rahul Gandhi was moved by the chief minister himself. People raised hands and left it to the Congress president to appoint the new state chief and AICC delegates from the state,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Chhattisgarh: The Chhattisgarh unit of the Congress joined Rajasthan in unanimously passing a resolution calling for Gandhi’s return as the party president. The resolution was passed at a meeting of the Congress at Rajeev Bhawan in Raipur, attended by state in-charge PL Punia, state unit chief Mohan Markam, chief minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel, and other cabinet ministers. Baghel said, “The Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee today passed the resolution and the party’s Rajasthan unit has also done this. If similar resolutions are passed in other states, then Rahul ji should rethink it as the party’s presidential election is nearing. Keeping in view the sentiments of all party workers, I think Rahul ji will agree. (to become party chief).” Baghel said he had moved the resolution for Gandhi as president, and it was supported by all the leaders present at the meeting of 310 delegates. The meeting was chaired by Hussain Dalwai. The second resolution authorised the party president to appoint the state president and treasurer, and AICC delegates, is being passed to meet the requirement of the Congress constitution to complete the process of election of PCC presidents and AICC delegates before the election for the top post, as directed by the party’s central election authority.
Gujarat: Gujarat Congress on Sunday also joined Rajasthan and Chattisgarh in demanding that Gandhi be made the party’s national president. The demand was made at the party’s state executive meeting held in Ahmedabad, with all of its more than 490 members, including the district/taluka/city heads of the party and the state level office bearers supporting the proposal with a round of applause. The resolution was moved by state party chief Jagdish Thakor. Chief spokesperson of Gujarat Congress, Manish Doshi said the committee expressed its desire to make Gandhi the president of the Indian National Congress, and wanted this point to be presented before the national leadership. Doshi added that the demand was presented by Gujarat party incharge Raghu Sharma and was supported by all the members present. “A demand was made to make Rahul Gandhi, who is the future of India and voice of the youth, the national president of the Indian National Congress,” the party stated in an official release after the meeting. The release also stated that a resolution was passed unanimously to authorise party president Sonia Gandhi to form the Gujarat unit of the party. A proposal in this regard was moved by the Leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly and senior Congress leader, Sukhram Rathva, and was supported by leaders such as Bharatsinh Solanki, Arjun Modhwadia and Sidhharth Patel.