Indian politician Sonia Gandhi will continue to lead the main opposition Congress as its “interim” president, the party said following a stormy seven-hour meeting of its top leaders in the capital, New Delhi.
“The CWC [Congress Working Committee] unanimously requests Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead the Indian National Congress until such time as circumstances will permit an AICC [All India Congress Committee] session to be convened,” the party tweeted on Monday.
In dramatic developments during the Congress meeting, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi had asked the party to “relieve her from the duty of party president” and look for a replacement, local media reports said.
Her offer to quit came after almost two dozen Congress leaders called for better decision-making in the party.
Two party sources said the signatories to the letter expected the Gandhi family to either play a proactive role or step down, adding that more than 300 regional Congress politicians also supported the letter.
It was a rare challenge to the Nehru-Gandhi family, which produced three Indian prime ministers and has dominated the party for much of the country’s independent history.
Sonia Gandhi, 73, is the widow of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Their parliamentarian son Rahul Gandhi had also served as the Congress president.
However, towards the end of Monday’s meeting, Sonia Gandhi’s offer to resign was rejected by the CWC, which wanted Gandhi and her son, Rahul, to remain in control.
