Congress defers party president polls once again, cites Covid-19 pandemic

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “the election has been deferred for two to three months”.

The Congress party’s internal elections to elect the successor of President Sonia Gandhi has been deferred once again as several members in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday emphasized keeping the focus on the Covid-19 pandemic and the relief work, the CWC resolution stated.

New Delhi, India - Feb. 27, 2020: A delegation from the Indian National Congress led by party President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh addresses the media after submitting a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind over the violence in the city, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, February 27, 2020. Party leaders K C Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Randeep Surjewala and Mallikarjun Kharge were also present. (Photo by Sanjeev Verma/ Hindustan Times) (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

In January, the Congress had decided to hold the long-pending organizational elections in June to elect a new president. Now, amid the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic raging across the country, the party has decided to defer the polls once again.

“In view of the nationwide emergent conditions prevailing on account of unprecedented Corona pandemic, the CWC was unanimous that all our energies should be channelized towards saving every life and helping every Covid affected person. CWC, therefore, unanimously resolved to defer the elections temporarily in the midst of these challenging times,” read the CWC resolution.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “the election has been deferred for two to three months” but at least two other party insiders said that polls would not happen till the covid subsides.

In her opening remarks, Congress president Sonia Gandhi mentioned the internal polls and said, “There is another important issue on which I would like your guidance. When we met on January 22nd, we had decided that the process for electing a Congress President would be completed by end-June. The election authority chairperson, Madhusudan Mistri ji, has prepared a schedule.”

The Mistri panel had proposed that the elections would be held in the last week of June. But leaders, including Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, argued that this is time to hold party polls.