Congress Working Committee asks Rahul Gandhi to take over as party chief

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday asked Rahul Gandhi to take over the party, amidst speculation for a change of guard.

Party president Sonia Gandhi did not attend the meeting as she was unwell. Therefore, vice president Rahul Gandhi presided over the meeting which started at 11 am. The CWC approved the extension of Sonia Gandhi’s tenure as party president for one year.

At the meeting, former defence minister A.K. Antony asked the Congress vice-president Rahul to take charge of the party. After that, former PM Manmohan Singh seconded the demand, following which all the CWC members made the same demand.

In his opening address, Gandhi lashed out at the Modi government for being “obsessed with power” and for ”seeking to silence all those who disagree”. He said democracy under the present dispensation was going through one of its darkest hours and even TV channels were being punished, referring to a one-day ban on NDTV India.

The Congress leader said: “The Opposition is being arrested for holding the government to account. The government is making all attempts to suppress the fundamental freedom by abusing state power. This will only strengthen our resolve to defeat such dangerous designs.”

“Asking questions is what discomforts this government the most, for they have no answers. Atrocities against Dalits go unabated and rights of tribals continue to be trampled upon,” he added.

Besides Antony and Singh, those who attended the meeting included P. Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Janardan Dwivedi, Ahmed Patel and Ambika Soni.