The Congress president may be given the role of sanrakshak (adviser) to the party
Even as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's elevation to the post of president is a foregone conclusion, as no other nomination has been filed so far, there is talk within the Congress party to devise the role for his mother and current president Sonia Gandhi. "She will not be able to call it a day after remaining president for 19 years after anointing her son as the new president. There is possibility of creating a lifetime post for her," a senior leader told DNA.
Sources within the party added that though Sonia can continue as the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) party leaders feel that this is not enough. Based on internal discussions between the leaders over past one month, there has been a proposal to create a respectable post, may be sanrakshak which roughly translates as, protector, patron or guardian, for her.
Even though Sonia may not be involved in the day-to-day affairs of the party, party leaders and cadres say that they do not want her not to go into political retirement but remain as a "conscience keeper" and provide guidance to Rahul in his fight against the BJP. There is also a lurking fear amongst senior party leaders that may become irrelevant once Rahul takes over to make way for his own team. Such leaders are lobbying for an official resolution at the AICC plenary session to create the new post that does not exist in the party's constitution.
The plenary session is being planned in December after the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The Congress is currently undergoing organisational polls and the Election Commission has set a December deadline for the party to conclude the exercise. The All India Congress Committee (AICC), however, plans to complete the process by the end of this month. As many as 23 state units have already adopted resolutions proposing Rahul's name for presidentship.
The party has 35 state units, including five in the union territories.
Senior party leaders emphasised the need for Sonia to be around as they recalled her role in uniting all the Opposition parties. This skill, they said would prove invaluable for the upcoming for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and a position in the Congress would help ensure that she plays that role with ease.
Over the past three years too, they say, she has been bringing together Opposition parties on one platform to fight Prime Minister Modi's politics. This could be seen lately in the elections of the President and the Vice-President.
The election authority constituted to hold the organisational elections gave the green signal informally to file nominations for the Congress president's post on October 10 and the process will continue till October 26.
Party plans
- The Congress Working Committee will take a formal decision on the party president’s election as also fix the plenary session dates after Diwali
- Rahul is expected to be declared the president between December 26 and 30, ahead of the plenary, as as they do not expect anyone else entering the race
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