Sonia Gandhi set to resign as Congress interim-chief, tells to 'find a new chief’: sources

Update at 8:00 PM

Amid rising calls to Rahul Gandhi to take over as Congress chief, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala clarified that Sonia Gandhi is t stepping down as interim-chief.

In a massive jolt to Grand Old Party, Congress interim-chief Sonia Gandhi may step down from her post under pressure, report sources on Sunday. This move comes as 23 Congress leaders wrote to her seeking structural changes in party - several senior leaders have opposed idea, reiterating faith in Gandhis' leadership. critical Congress Working Committee (CWC) is set to meet on Monday as Sonia Gandhi's term as interim-chief comes to an end.

Sonia Gandhi: ‘Get toger and find a new chief’

Responding to leaders seeking structural change, sources report that Sonia Gandhi  has aked leaders that all of m should get toger and find a new chief. Sources state that Gandhi has indicated does t want to carry out responsibilities any furr. Congress is allegedly w plaaning to vote a 'n-Gandhi' president once Sonia Gandhi steps down.

Congress Vs Congress on 'structural changes'

On or hand, backing Gandhis, Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh said this was t time to raise such an issue, ahead of a crucial CWC meeting on Monday.  Punjab CM warned that any move to divide or destabilize party would give advant to 'dictatorial forces' and would be detrimental to party's interests. Apart from Singh, several or Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid, Sanjay Nirupam, Siddaramaiah, Bhupesh Baghel have also opposed this idea. 

Khurshid has said that 'Congress should give consensus a chance instead of internal polls', whil talking to PTI. Meanwhile, Nirupam has alleged that this letter is a 'conspiracy hatched in closed rooms' to blunt Rahul Gandhi's chance to lead party once again. Both Siddaramaiah and Baghel have stated that only Sonia or Rahul can lead party.

23 leaders seek 'structural changes'

Hinting at apparent turmoil within Grand old party, 23 senior leaders have written to party's interim-Chief Sonia Gandhi raising  a 5-Point nda to revive Party. letter emphasised on need for active leadership in party and raised questions about party's condition and direction, demanding an internal election to CWC. five-p letter - drafted by two senior leaders bears signatures of leaders from Congress' 'old guard ' and 'young guard' (i.e Rahul Gandhi supporters). Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari,  Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Jitin Prasad, Veerappa Moily, Pramod Tiwari, PJ Kurien, Sandeep Dikshit, as per sources.  Meanwhile, Congress has denied that it has received any such letter.

Congress' string of resignations

Since resignation of  Rahul Gandhi as party chief post-2019 Lok Sabha debacle, several Congress members have resigned from ir posts. Rahul Gandhi's resignation triggered over 200 Congress leaders to resign from ir party post 'in hour and respect of Rahul Gandhi' as stated in ir resignation letters - including Milind Deora, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Jyotiraditya Scindia. While Scindia has since n jumped to BJP, toppling Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, Congress also received a scare as Sachin Pilot along with 18 MLAs split away from Gehlot's Rajasthan government - bringing it to brink of collapse.   party has also seen too many defections across states and has also thrown out Sanjay Jha for raising same issues 23 leaders have.