NEW DELHI: Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi has offered to step down from the party’s top post but it was rejected by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he asked her to continue, this was revealed at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting underway on Monday.
The letter of Sonia Gandhi to the people who wrote to her demanding a change in the leadership, said that she wanted to be relieved. Sonia Gandhi’s letter was read by party General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal at the meeting of the highest decision making body of the Congress.
Sonia Gandhi also offered to quit and said the process should be initiated to elect a new Congress President. She has referred to a letter written to her by senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.
However, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while speaking at the meeting asked her to continue as party Chief, party sources said.
During the CWC meeting, senior Congress leader A.K. Antony questioned the letter written by over 100 party leaders urging for sweeping reforms, and ‘a full-time, visible leadership.
With many Congress leaders openly demanding Rahul Gandhi to be brought back as the party chief without any further delay, the party made it clear that the CWC meeting will discuss the issue.
The meeting comes weeks after the Congress saw a stormy meeting of its Rajya Sabha MPs wherein certain leaders sought introspection on the 2019 poll debacle. Thereafter, a bunch of leaders wrote the letter to Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi on the issue of leadership change and elections in the CWC.