The Congress on Monday set in motion the process to name Rahul Gandhi as the next party president as it…
Rahul Gandhi (Photo: Twitter)
The Congress on Monday set in motion the process to name Rahul Gandhi as the next party president as it announced the poll schedule to elect the candidate for the top post.
In an hour-long meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi, the Congress decided that elections to choose the next president will take place on December 16 “if necessary” while the results would be out on December 19.
According to the party, the election will be notified on December 1, and the last date for filing nominations is December 4.
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On the last day of filing the nomination, if no other contestant files his/her nomination against the Gandhi scion, then he will be declared President unopposed.
With Rahul Gandhi expected to be the only candidate in the fray, the 47-year-old is expected to take over the reins on December 4, ahead of Gujarat Assembly elections starting December 9, sources said.
If there were to be an election, it would be held on December 15 and results would be declared on December 19.
The CWC meeting was attended by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with senior party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel, P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushilkumar Shinde and Karan Singh.
The party has time till December 31 to complete the entire organisational election process and submit the report to the Election Commission.
The Congress had earlier set a deadline to complete the organisational elections by October-end.
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