Congress president's term extended to five years

Congress today amended its constitution to extend its party president's term to five years from the current three years.

An amendment to this effect was passed at the 83rd Congress plenary which began in Burari on the fringes of the national capital.

The resolution was moved by senior leader Oscar Fernandes and approved by other party leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister AK Antony and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi, senior ministers and scores of party leaders gathered in the capital.

The amendment comes at a time when Sonia Gandhi is serving as Congress president for the fourth straight term --the longest-serving chief of the 125-year-old party.

The plenary also marks the completion of the 125 years of Congress, which is the oldest political party in the country.

The party also amended its constitution to allow holding organisational polls once every five years as against three years at present.

Another key amendment pertained to meeting of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) at least once every year.

Earlier, the party constitution mandated that AICC should meet "not less than twice" every year.

The Delhi plenary is the first such meet of the party after it came to power for the second time along with other UPA partners in the Lok Sabha elections last year.

The plenary also adopted a condolence resolution mourning the death of some AICC and PCC members.

Gandhi and Singh also felicitated freedom fighters for their contribution to the independence struggle.

Both the leaders came down from the dais to honour the veteran freedom fighters, some of whom broke down as they narrated their struggles to Gandhi and Singh.